


Strange Times

by BeccaAnne814



Series: Bucky Barnes x Reader Series [12]
Category: Captain America (Movies), Captain America - All Media Types, Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Angst, F/M, Fluff, cursing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-20
Updated: 2018-08-26
Packaged: 2019-04-04 22:01:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 23
Words: 76,287
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14029698
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BeccaAnne814/pseuds/BeccaAnne814
Summary: You have a certain type - smart, charming, and handsome as sin.  For years you've been in love with the only man you thought possessed all of those traits, but a chance encounter with a Strange individual sends you and a certain ex-assassin on a journey of self-discovery.  As you try to find a way back home, will you also be able to uncover the perfect man hidden beneath layers of guilt and self-loathing?





	1. Chapter 1

He was perfect, at least in her eyes. He was ridiculously smart, handsome, charming, and the sexiest man she'd ever seen. She'd been in love with him from the very first moment she'd met him, much to Director Fury's dismay. He'd sent her and Natasha in to observe him, and she'd been completely captivated by his undeniable charisma. She'd hoped that at some point along the way he'd see her as more than just a teammate, but he'd never looked at her as more than a friend and colleague while she'd spent years pining away for him.

As she watched the press conference video on her phone, she let out a sigh and silently cursed herself for ruining the only chance she may had had with him. When the Sokovia Accords had divided the Avengers in half, she'd chosen not to follow her heart and had ended up on the opposite side from him. Now she and Natasha were fugitives and she may never get the chance to ever see him again.

She was so caught up in the video, she didn't notice the recently-turned blonde come up behind her until she'd snatched the phone from her hands. She flipped around in her chair and met the angry glare of her best friend.

"Really?" Natasha asked. "When are you going to get over this obsession with Stark?"

YN grabbed the phone back from Nat and closed the YouTube app before sliding it into her back pocket. "I don't see why it's any business of yours."

Nat shook her head and pulled YN to her feet. "Because you deserve better. And besides, didn't you see Pepper standing off to the side? She's obviously forgiven him for whatever he did to cause the latest disagreement."

YN had seen Pepper standing in the back of the room with Happy, but she'd chosen to ignore the other woman. It wasn't as though YN hated her – in fact, it was the exact opposite. Pepper was one of the sweetest people she'd ever met, and she completely understood why Tony was in love with her. Knowing how wonderful Pepper was didn't make it any easier to handle her unrequited love, though.

"What is it about him that keeps me holding onto hope when I know for a fact there is none?" YN asked with a dejected look.

"He has a certain appeal," Nat said with a shrug. "I personally don't get it, but I can see why you would be attracted to him." She gave YN a long look before grabbing her hand and leading her from the room. "You need to hit something – it'll make you feel better."

YN smiled and shook her head as she allowed her friend to lead her toward the small training room they'd set up in the smallest bedroom of the two-bedroom apartment they were currently renting in Prague. After the fight at the airport in Germany, Natasha had flipped sides and now she was a wanted woman just like YN. They'd briefly talked to Tony at the hospital when they'd went to check on Rhodey, but he'd made it perfectly clear that he was washing his hands of them. Now he'd apparently adopted the spider kid, and the two former spies were left to fend for themselves. Once YN had realized that Nat had helped Steve and his friend, Bucky, escape, she'd proposed the idea of the two of them laying low together in Czechia. She knew that Nat had experience being on the run, but YN had always had the security of S.H.I.E.L.D. behind her, so it was more for her benefit than it was for Nat's.

The one thing YN loved about her best friend was that she didn't pull punches – in any aspect of their relationship. When she trained with Nat, she always had to be on top of her game, or she'd end up bruised and bloody. The same rules applied to her personal relationship with the former Russian assassin – Nat wasn't afraid of calling a spade a spade, especially when it came to Tony.

After thirty grueling minutes of intense hand-to-hand combat, YN was exhausted. The only good outcome that had come from her life as a fugitive was the increase in strength and agility she'd gained from training one-on-one with Natasha. She was certain she could handle herself in any situation that came her way, and she was always on guard for the day that someone would come looking for the two of them. Right now, though, she just wanted a long hot shower, something to eat, and the comfort of her bed.

"Are you going to be able to get up?" Nat asked as she reached out a hand.

Looking up from her position on the floor, YN glanced toward Nat's outstretched hand and took a deep breath. Steeling herself for the pain that would come from rising, she grabbed ahold and let the other woman pull her to her feet. Letting out a hiss, she asked, "You did that on purpose, didn't you?"

"What? Caused you enough physical pain to get your mind off of the emotional trauma you put yourself through every time you watch a video clip of Stark?" She gave a nonchalant shrug of her shoulder and turned to leave the room, looking back only to add, "I wouldn't dream of it."

"I wish I could get over him," YN said as she followed her into the hallway.

"You will," Nat said as she gave her friend a sympathetic look. "You just need to find someone better."

"Yeah?" she asked with a disbelieving grin. "And where exactly am I going to find a guy that's not only handsome as sin, but wickedly smart, and has more charm in his little finger than most men have in their whole bodies?"

Nat opened the linen closet door, grabbed a towel, and tossed it to YN. "He's out there, you just haven't met him yet. I have a feeling that when you do, though, you'll forget that Stark even exists." 

 

"Are you sure this is going to work?" Bucky asked Steve as he warily eyed the somber looking brunette across the room.

"I've talked this over with Wanda, and she's pretty sure she can remover the trigger words," Steve said as he laid a hand on his best friend's shoulder.

Bucky turned back to Steve. "She couldn't do this while I was frozen?"

Steve took a deep breath and his lips formed a tight line as he considered Bucky's question. "She could've, but after what HYDRA did to you for all those years, I wanted to give you the chance to make this decision on your own."

Bucky hadn't been expecting that answer, and for a moment he had a hard time breathing. The wounds that HYDRA had inflicted still ran deep, but he should have known that Steve, of all people, would understand and respect that. He wasn't sure what he'd ever done to deserve a friend like him, but he knew that as long as he had Steve Rogers in his corner, he could face any obstacle that came his way. 

Steve watched the different emotions flicker across Bucky's face, and he knew he'd made the right call. This may not work, but at least he could say that he'd tried. If this didn't work, he knew he'd have to watch his oldest friend imprison himself back in the ice again, and Steve wasn't sure he'd be able to handle it a second time. As it was, he'd barely waited for the cryogenic chamber to turn on before he'd been out the door to borrow a jet from T'Challa. Bucky have may have willingly locked himself away, but the rest of his team hadn't, and it was up to him to save them from whatever tortures Ross had concocted. Finding them on the raft prison had been bad enough, but when he'd seen what they had done to Wanda, all of the pent up anger within him had erupted, and his righteous fury had rained down upon the facility. He'd reminded himself that the guards were simply following orders, and that it was Ross that deserved the brunt of the blame. The day would come when that man received his reckoning.

Waving Wanda over, Steve gave her a proper introduction to Bucky. "We didn't have time go over the formalities before, but this is Wanda Maximoff. She was also experimented on by HYDRA, and in addition to being telekinetic, she can read and manipulate other people's minds."

Bucky had seen her use her powers at the airport, so he'd known about the telekinesis, but when Steve mentioned the mind-reading, his eyes grew large. "You know what I'm thinking right now?"

A smile spread across Steve's face as he saw the look of terror come over Bucky. "You might want to be careful there, Wanda," he warned with a laugh. "Buck was quite the ladies man back in the 40's.

"Not what I meant, punk," Bucky said with a huge grin as he closed his eyes in embarrassment.

"Gotcha to laugh, didn't it?" Steve asked as he squeezed Bucky's shoulder.

Wanda had silently watched the exchange, and instead of making her feel better about what she was about to do, it made her that much more terrified. Seeing the bond between these two men, she was scared of what would happen if she failed. Steve had been there for her during the worst times in her life, and she wanted nothing more than to return the favor. If this didn't work, she wasn't sure she could handle Steve's disappointment. Logically, she knew he wouldn't blame her, but she would blame herself enough for the both of them.

Fixing a sly grin on her face, she gave Steve a side-eyed glance. "I'm sure Sergeant Barnes will be a perfect gentleman, won't you Sergeant?"

"Absolutely, doll," Bucky said as he glanced toward Steve with a raised eyebrow.

"See," Steve said, pointing a finger at Bucky "I knew you couldn't help yourself."

Bucky was genuinely confused as he looked from Steve to Wanda. "What? I can't call a dame 'doll' without you thinking I'm making a pass at her?"

"It's fine," Wanda said with a grin as she watched the two men affectionately bicker with one another. She'd never seen Steve behave like that before, and while she enjoyed seeing him act like a light-hearted young man, she had a job to do. If everything went according to her plan, they would have ample opportunities to reminisce about their lives before HYDRA. 

Bucky shot one half-heartedly evil glance toward Steve before turning back to Wanda. "Please call me Bucky."

"Of course, Bucky," Wanda said as his face lit up with a smile that she could only assume had drove women crazy back in the 40's. She might have been affected a few years ago, but since she'd met Vision, he'd become the center of her attention.

"Did you want to wait until tomorrow to begin?" Steve asked.

Bucky took a deep breath before answering. "If it's okay with Wanda, I'd like to start now. The sooner we know if the programming can be reversed, the safer it'll be for everyone."

"I agree," Wanda told him as she gestured for him to lie back on the examining table. "I'm not sure, but this may become painful at times – if you get to a point that you feel you need to stop, let me know."

Bucky shot a glance to Steve who's face had gone from mirthful to worried in a matter of seconds. "I doubt you'll be any worse than HYDRA, so I think I can handle whatever pain you inflict. Let's just get this over with."

Steve stood back and watched as Wanda began to move her hands. Small arcs of red light erupted from her fingertips as she reached out toward Bucky's temples. She hesitated for a moment, but when Bucky nodded his head and closed his eyes, she lowered her hands and placed her fingertips along the sides of his brow. A look of pain came over his friend's face, and Steve made a move to stop her, but he forced himself to hold back. Wanda knew what she was doing, and Bucky had agreed, even though he knew there might be pain involved. He would just have to stand on the sidelines for this one and wait until they were finished.

Hours passed and Steve began to get worried. A thin sheen of sweat had formed on Wanda's brow, and Bucky's face was contorted in pain, but still he waited. Time seemed to crawl as his two friends waged a silent war against the deviations of HYDRA, and he could only hope that they were winning. He'd long ago convinced himself that Wanda was making progress or she wouldn't have continued to poke and prod in Bucky's mind.

After what had felt like an eternity, he saw a look of peace wash over Bucky's face and Steve jumped to his feet. His concentration had centered solely on Bucky, so he almost didn't notice how exhausted Wanda had become. When he saw her legs start to give out from under her, he rushed forward and caught her before she could fall. Scooping her up into his arms, he walked to one of the other examining tables and gently laid her down.

"I'm fine," she whispered weakly. "Just tired."

"It's okay," he told her as he brushed a lock of hair back behind her ear. "You need to rest."

Steve turned to check on Bucky, but one last whispered phrase from Wanda had him rushing back to her. "What did you say?"

She opened an eye and gave him a smug grin before she repeated herself. "It worked."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _Thank you for reading Part 1 of this story! I hope you enjoyed it! Well, we've met our Reader, but it seems as though she's in love with Tony, but he's pretty happy with Pepper. . .where on Earth do you think she's going to meet a smart, charming, and devilishly handsome man?!? Right now she's in Prague with Nat, he's in Wakanda with Steve and the rest of Team Cap, and Tony's back in New York with Pepper. What a mess!. How do you think they're all going to end up in the same place? I look forward to your comments!_


	2. Chapter 2

The club was loud and the lights were beginning to hurt her eyes. For some reason, the club owner thought it would be cute to make the lights pulse along to the rhythm of the so-called music blasting from the speakers high overhead. YN was just glad that her shift was almost up. She shot a glance down the bar and saw Nat leaning over to flirt with some men who were more interested in gawking at her cleavage than listening to a word she said. YN shook her head in annoyance, but she knew that was the kind of behavior that got them the most tips, and right now they could use all the money they could get.

Taking a deep breath, she plastered a come-hither smile on her face and sauntered up to the bar to take another round of drink orders. Leaning over as Nat had done, she felt her shirt slide down her chest and mentally cursed having to debase herself like this just so she could afford a roof over her head and food on the table. It could be worse, though, she thought. At least she and Nat weren't out on a street corner right now, although most of the men in the club treated them like prostitutes anyway.

She'd just finished popping the tops on a round of beers when she noticed a man in the crowd who seemed out of place. This club catered to the hipster scene – men in skinny jeans with ankle boots and denim jackets over graphic tees or button down flannels – so when she saw a man in relaxed fit black jeans and an dark army-issued jacket, she paid attention. He was tall, with long dark brown hair, and for some reason he looked familiar to her. It wasn't until he turned around and his piercing blue-grey eyes met hers that she realized who he was.

Taking a step back, she shot a glance toward Nat at the other end of the bar, but her attention was centered on another man that didn't seem like he belonged in this club, either. His face was hidden from view, but YN was sure she didn't know anyone with shaggy blond hair and a beard. Worried that they'd been found by the wrong people, she grabbed a cocktail peanut and lobbed it at Nat's head to get her attention. Their shift was up and the next round of bartenders were already taking orders, so YN nodded toward the employees' exit and hoped that Nat would follow her. Racing to her locker, she grabbed her coat and bag and was about to head out the door when Nat called out to stop her.

"YN, wait," Nat said as she reached out to stop her from leaving.

"Barnes is here with some other man," she told her friend. "I think they've found us."

"He's here with Steve," Nat said with a sigh. "I don't think he saw me. . ."

YN shook her head and interrupted her. "Barnes saw me. I don't know if he'll remember me from Germany – I'm definitely not dressed like a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent right now. Why are they here?"

"I don't know," Nat said, pursing her lips, "but they're wanted fugitives just like us."

"Unless they've switched sides and came here to turn us in."

"Let's hear what they have to say and then if we need to, we can fight our way out," Nat suggested. "Or don't you think we're a match for a couple super soldiers?"

The door to the employees' lounge opened and YN realized that the choice had already been made for her as she saw Steve and his friend walk in. Planting her feet, she balled her fists at her side and waited for the fight she was terrified would ensue.

"We just want to to talk," Steve said, raising both of his hands in surrender when he saw YN's defensive stance.

"How did you know where we were?" Nat asked, trying to look at ease, but YN could see the tension in her shoulders as she also prepared for a potential fight.

"It wasn't easy, but eventually Fury told us where you were," Steve said, trying to keep his voice calm and level so he wouldn't spook them. "He's been keeping an eye on you two, just in case Ross decided to come after you."

"So, you're not working with Ross?" YN asked. "How can we be sure we can trust you?"

Steve cocked a brow and gave them a smirk. "Do I look like I'm still a part of any government agency? Bucky and I are both just trying to lay low until Tony can get some amendments made to the Sokovia Accords."

YN's whole demeanor changed in an instant. "You've spoken to Tony? How is he? How's Rhodey?"

Nat exhaled loudly and shook her head. "I think you're forgetting that Tony isn't on our side, YN."

"C'mon, Nat," YN pleaded. "It's Tony, and if Steve says he's trying to fix things, then maybe. . ."

"I seem to recall the last words that man said to you were 'Go to hell,'" Nat reminded her.

"Ouch," Bucky said with a pained look.

YN's glare turned from Nat to Bucky in an instant. "Who asked your opinion?"

"Enough," Steve said, pulling out his Captain voice. "We didn't come here to start another war. Tony needs our help and he asked me to bring you two in specifically."

Nat's eyes narrowed as she studied Steve for signs of deceit. "Why now, and why us?"

Steve pursed his lips and gave YN a long look. "Tony didn't really say, but he did tell me that it was imperative that I bring YN back."

Hope again swelled within her, but she tamped it down as she reminded herself that he and Pepper were back together. "What if we don't want to go back?"

"Then he told me to tell you that Mordo has gone rogue," Steve offered with a shrug. "Don't know what that means, but he thought it might mean something to you."

YN took a step back as her heart began to race. Mordo was a name from her past – a past she'd worked so hard to forget, but now it looked like her carefully guarded secrets would soon come to light. "We can't talk about this here."

YN turned to walk out the door, so she missed the looks of confusion the rest of the group shared with one another. They had no idea who Mordo was, but just the mention of his name had caused a look of fear to come over YN, and that was enough reason to for them to worry.

Nat hung back with Steve and Bucky, letting YN have a few moments to herself as they walked back to their apartment. She'd known that YN had secrets she didn't want to share, and Nat had always respected her privacy enough not to go snooping. She'd trusted Fury when he'd vouched for her years ago, and she'd learned to trust YN as their working relationship evolved into friendship. She'd always wondered if YN would ever confide her secrets to her, but she'd never pushed. Now she thought that maybe she should have.

YN could feel three sets of eyes boring into her back as she hurried along the busy streets. She'd removed herself from the world of magic a long time ago, and she'd hoped that she'd never have to go back again. Learning that her mentor had turned broke her heart, but it also worried her – he was one of the most formidable men she knew, and in his hands, the magic could become deadly for anyone who tried to stop him.

Turning the key in the lock, she let herself into the tiny apartment and shrugged off her coat. She could hear the footsteps of the others behind her, but she still wasn't ready to face them yet. Heading to her shared room with Nat, she pulled some leggings from a drawer and grabbed a long tunic top from a hanger in the closet. Shimmying out of the tight-fitting clothes she'd worn to work, she quickly changed and headed to the bathroom to wash her face.

As she scrubbed the last remnants of the makeup off, she raised her head and met her own gaze in the mirror. The last few months on the run had taken its toll on both her and Nat, but the haggard look in her eyes hadn't been there a couple hours ago. This was the result of her past finally catching up to her. She heard the bedroom door open and glanced over to see Nat rummaging through the drawers for a change of clothes.

"I know you wanted some space, but I needed to get out of this spandex," she told her as she quickly pulled her shirt over her head.

"It's okay," YN told her as she dried her face and leaned against the door jam.

"You want to talk about this privately before you fill in the boys?" Nat asked once she'd changed her clothes and turned back around to face YN.

YN shook her head. "No, it'll be better to only have to go through this once." She raised her eyebrows and shrugged her shoulders. "At least for now. I'm sure if we head back to New York, I'll have to go over it all again."

Nat nodded and waited until YN moved toward the door before she followed her out. Steve and Bucky were sitting on either end of the threadbare couch they'd picked up at a flea market for a few bucks the first week they'd been in town. YN grabbed one of the folding chairs from the card table they used in lieu of a kitchen table and carried it over to set in front of the couch. Pulling her legs up to her chest, she braced her heels on the edge of the chair as she wrapped her arms around her shins and rested her chin on her knees. Nat grabbed the other chair and angled it so she could see both the guys and YN at the same time.

"It's a long story, so I'm just going to give you the highlights," she began. "When I was a kid, I fell in with the wrong crowd. I know, typical teenaged American sob story. Anyway, my parents decided that I needed to get away from my troublemaking friends, so they hired a tutor and sent me on a trip around the world. I guess they thought that a little culture shock was in order to set me back on the straight and narrow."

"Were your parents rich?" Nat asked, as she looked at YN in disbelief.

"Yeah," YN confirmed. "Buffy and Fitz came from what you would call 'old money,' and I guess I was the stereotypical rich kid who was bored with her pampered life. Anyway, my tutor, Millicent, decided to take me to Kathmandu. That's where I met Mordo." She took a deep breath and tried to figure out the best way to explain the next part. She looked at the faces staring back at her, patiently waiting for her to continue. "He saw something in me and decided to take me under his wing. He introduced me to the Ancient One who showed me a world that I could never have imagined existed. I sent Millicent back to the states with a message to my parents that I had decided to stay in Nepal. I'm sure they thought I'd joined a cult, but I didn't care – I just wanted to learn everything I could about magic."

"Magic?" Nat asked, interrupting her. 

"Like what Loki can do?" Steve asked, trying to get a grasp on what she was saying.

"Not like Loki," YN said with a shake of her head. "It's hard to explain, but basically I was taught how to harness the dimensional energy to manipulate what we think of as reality. The Ancient One showed me how the Multiverse interconnects us all – I wish I could explain it better, but its one of those things you just have see to understand."

"Why did you leave?" Bucky asked, breaking his silence.

She shrugged her shoulders. "I was still just a kid, and it was a lot of responsibility. I'd only stayed because it seemed fun at the time, but I wanted to live a normal life again."

"This is what you consider normal?" Bucky asked as he looked around the dingy apartment.

A wry grin spread across YN's face. "I guess normal just isn't my thing."

Steve's eyes narrowed. "How did you end up with S.H.I.E.L.D.?" 

"Director Fury actually approached me himself," YN said with a look of disbelief on her face. "He'd heard rumors of Kamar-Taj and the Ancient One, and when my parents raised a fuss about me joining a cult in Nepal, he took notice. He wanted inside information, but I refused to talk about my time there. At that point, my parents had kicked me out again, and I was desperate to find somewhere to belong. He sent me to the Academy without pressing me any further, and I'd assumed that I'd left that part of my life behind me for good."

"So, this Mordo – how dangerous is he?" Nat asked.

YN looked up at the ceiling and took another deep breath. How to explain her mentor? "He's brilliant, and extremely talented in the world of magic. The Ancient One always said that his soul was rigid and unmovable – he only sees things in terms of black and white, and that's his biggest flaw. As long as he thought he was on the side of good, he'd be an asset, but something must have happened to make him see the use of magic in a different way. I don't what it was, but if the Ancient One has reached out to Tony, then things aren't looking too good right now. I just don't understand why she wouldn't have come to me directly."

"I don't know," Steve said. "But Tony wants us back in New York as soon as possible."

"How are we going to get there?" Nat asked. "I'm sure our photos are hanging up in every airport around the world."

"We have a way around that," Steve said with a smirk.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _Thank you for reading Part 2 of this story! I hope you enjoyed it! After seeing the Infinity War trailer I haven't been able to get Bearded!Steve out of my mind!  That trailer also sparked the inspiration for this story once I saw Tony with Doctor Strange.  I'd love to hear your theories on what you think is going to happen in this story! I look forward to your comments!_


	3. Chapter 3

YN and Nat had gone back to their bedroom to pack a bag, but once they'd started, they'd realized that everything they owned would fit in a small suitcase.  With a shared look and a shrug, they packed up all of their belongings.  It didn't seem likely that they would be coming back to Prague anyway, so why leave anything behind that would alert someone to their presence?  Ten minutes later, it was as though they'd never even been in the small apartment.

Barnes had called for a cab, and YN'd had the misfortune of being crammed in the backseat between him and Nat.  Barnes had laid his arm on the back of the seat behind her, and the tight confines of the car had forced her so close to him that she was practically sitting in his lap.  She reminded herself that it could have been worse – he may have looked like a hobo, but he definitely didn't smell like one.  She wasn't sure what body wash or cologne he had on, but it was an intoxicating scent that had her peeking up at him through her eyelashes as she tried to figure him out.

"Looks like someone got a new sugar daddy," Nat observed when they pulled up to the private terminal.

"You know what, Romanoff. . ." Steve abruptly stopped speaking and just shook his head as he turned back around in his seat.

YN was confused at first until she spotted the tall, regal-looking woman standing on the tarmac beside the plane.  Although YN knew she was a different woman than one that had accompanied T'Challa at the Joint Counter Terrorism Centre, there was no mistaking a member of the Dora Milaje.  It said a lot about a country when it's elite warriors were a group of highly skilled women who were also charged with protecting their king.

Steve paid the cab driver and started heading through the terminal to the private jet awaiting their arrival.  YN had noticed a small grin form on Bucky's face at Nat's comment and thought that the formerly brainwashed assassin seemed to have found his sense of humor again.  She'd heard so many stories of the infamous Bucky that she was curious to see if the man lived up to the legend.

As they took their seats and the plane began to taxi down the runway, YN looked out of the window to see the sun starting to rise on the horizon.  It had been a long night, and the adrenaline rush of the evening before had left her exhausted.  She took once glance around at the people on the plane with her, and knew that she had nothing to worry about.  Leaning her seat back and closing her eyes, she allowed her body to finally get the sleep it so desperately craved.

 

YN awoke to the sound of whispering voices.  She strained her ears to make who was talking, and wasn't surprised when she recognized Nat and Steve as the two speaking in hushed tones.  Try as she might, she couldn't hear what they were saying.  She peeked through her lashes to see where Barnes had ended up, and was surprised to find him sitting to her right on the opposite side of the small plane.  Unlike her, he was blatantly staring in her direction, even though he must have known she was awake. 

Opening her eyes fully, she stretched her arms over her head as she looked out the window beside her.  The sun was still low in the sky, but since they were flying west, that meant absolutely nothing in terms of what time it actually was.  She could tell from the stiffness in her shoulders that she'd been sleeping in an awkward position for some time, and there was land beneath them instead of water, so she assumed that they were fairly close to their destination.

Finally willing to acknowledge Barnes, she turned her head slightly and gave him a questioning glance.  He had lifted the arm rests on the two seats he was currently occupying and had stretched out with his back to the window.  It annoyed her that he didn't seem to mind being caught gawking at her.  She tried to play it off on his training – he was probably just trying to get a better read on her.  They hadn't had a lot of time to talk back in Germany once Tony and the rest of his team had arrived at the airport.  She knew most of his history from talking to Steve over the years, but she wasn't sure how much Steve had told Barnes about her.  Now that all of them knew the short version of her true history, they were probably more wary of her than they had been when they'd all first met.

She wasn't sure how long the staring contest would have gone on, but when Nat suddenly appeared in her line of vision, she was forced out of her thoughts and back into the present.  Nat shot a quick glance over her shoulder at Barnes and then turned back to YN with a smirk.  Rolling her eyes, YN ignored her friend's silent insinuation and looked back out the window of the plane.

"Where are we?" YN asked as she turned back to Nat.  She noticed that Barnes had twisted in his seat to allow Steve to sit beside him, so she couldn't see the former assassin any longer.  With a mental shrug, she focused on Nat's reply.

"Almost to New York," she told YN.  "It's about half past eight right now, so we shouldn't experience any jet lag.  Only good thing about flying west at the break of dawn."

YN nodded her head in agreement before giving her friend a steely look.  "So what were you and the good Captain whispering about back there?"

Nat shook her head and tossed a glance over her shoulder at the super soldier in question.  "Nothing much.  Just catching each other up on what's happened since he and Barnes stole the Quinjet."

"Since you helped him and Barnes steal the Quinjet," she corrected with a raised eyebrow.

"Still not sure why I did it, but I'm glad I did," Nat said with a sigh.  "You won't believe what happened to the rest of the team once Ross and his crew showed up at the airport.  I'll fill you in later, but just be glad that I convinced you to come with me instead of heading back into the fray."

"That bad?" YN asked as she tried to imagine what types of punishment Ross had inflicted on her friends.  "Now I feel even more guilty for leaving with you."

Nat laid a hand on her friend's arm.  "Don't.  You completed your objective and got Steve and Bucky to the Quinjet.  We're all fugitives regardless of who was caught and who escaped, and don't think for one second any of them went willingly.  In case you've forgotten, we did try to talk some sense into Stark before we went into hiding," Nat reminded her.  "We tried to help our friends, but he was too stubborn to put aside his own pettiness to realize that what he'd done was wrong."

"That's not fair. . ." YN began before Nat cut her off.

"Enough," Nat said, her voice edged in ice.  "I'm sick and tired of you constantly making excuses for him.  He doesn't care about you and he never will – you're nothing more than a means to an end for him."

Nat's words stung, not because they were said with such malice, but because they were true.  YN turned back to the window to hide the hurt and the tears that had sprung up in her eyes.  She'd known for years that Tony would never look at her the way she wanted him to, and she also knew that she was guilty of playing devil's advocate for him on many occasions when she knew he was completely in the wrong.

She was saved from having to reply as the captain of the plane came over the intercom to announce that they were beginning their descent and they should fasten their seatbelts.  Without giving it much thought, YN did as she was instructed and then continued to look out of the window.  She could tell from the rapidly approaching landscape that they weren't going to the city, but rather to the compound in Upstate New York.  As much as she loved the seclusion of the compound, she had a feeling tensions would be running high for this reunion and she could have used the hustle and bustle of the city to help her disappear for a while if things got to be too much for her.  She knew her infatuation with Tony was unhealthy, but even with all of her efforts to move on from him, she just hadn't found a way to convince herself that she deserved better.

Steve spoke briefly to the captain and the member of the Dora Milaje before they exited the plane.  YN was curious to know how Steve had ended up in Wakanda with T'Challa, but that was a story for another day.  They began to walk down the stairs to the tarmac and YN took a deep breath as she tried to prepare herself to see Tony again.  She'd tried to forget the last time she'd seen him, and the horrible things he'd said to her, but now that seemed to be the only thought she was capable of remembering.

She needn't have worried since it didn't appear as though Tony would be there to greet them after all.  He'd sent Pepper, and YN tried to tell herself that it was a good thing to be reminded of the woman Tony was actually in love with.  Pepper had a smile on her face and greeted Steve and Nat warmly.  She politely shook Barnes' hand before turning toward YN with a sad smile on her face.  YN liked to think she was an excellent liar, and in most situations, she was, but when it came to Tony, it was hard to hide her feelings and Pepper was no fool.

"It's good to see you again, YN," Pepper said as she pulled YN into a hug.

YN had wanted so badly to hate her, but it was no use.  Pepper was an amazing woman, and even though she knew how YN felt about her boyfriend, she'd never held it against her.  YN returned the hug and told Pepper that she was glad to see her as well.

With one last pitying smile, Pepper led them all into the compound.  It looked as though Tony had been busy while they'd been in exile, and YN couldn't help but admire the changes he'd made to the facility in their absence.  She held back a bit, letting the others go ahead of her so that she could steel her nerves again for her reunion with Tony.  She made half a dozen promises to herself about how she would act, and what she would say.  This was her chance to start afresh with him, and maybe, just maybe, if she acted like being in the same room as him didn't break her heart, she could finally convince herself that it was true.

As her mind played out a multitude of different scenarios, she felt someone's gaze on her.  Bringing herself back to reality, she found that Barnes had allowed the group to move on ahead of him as he slowed down to walk beside her.  He was watching her intently and it was beginning to unnerve her.

"What?" she asked more sharply than she'd intended.

"I'm just trying to figure you out," he said, not bothering to play games with her.

"There's nothing to figure out," she said with a shrug.  "What you see is what you get."

"I don't think so," he disagreed.  He paused for a moment before continuing.  "Why did you side with Steve when you're obviously in love with Stark?"

Her mouth fell open in shock before she could stop herself.  Jerking her head back around to look straight ahead, she tried to think of something she could say that would convince him he was wrong.  Knowing that he would see through any lie, she went with the truth.  "I didn't want to reveal my history with magic.  I knew if I sided with Tony, I'd have to sign the accords and then my entire past would be up for review.  I've worked hard to leave that part of my life behind me."  She stopped for a moment and let out a sigh.  "I also thought Steve was right – signing the Accords would only leave us vulnerable to manipulation by people who wouldn't bother to give us the whole story before they used us as their own personal mercenaries."

Barnes nodded his head in understanding.  "That must have been hard on you."

He didn't phrase it as a question, which surprised YN.  She looked over at him to find him looking at her with a look almost like pity, but there was a touch of respect in his eyes that softened the sting.

"Maybe it was just time that I faced reality," she said, surprising herself.  Why was she even talking to him about this?  Maybe it because he didn't really know her or the history she shared with Tony, or maybe it was because she was tired of fighting for a man that would never fight for her.

They were quickly approaching the conference room, and YN started to feel a bit panicky.  She took a couple deep breaths as her hands tightened into fists.  She would not let Tony see how much he affected her, not after he'd so completely dismissed her back in Germany.  Just as she was about to turn the corner that would bring the open space of the common area into view, she felt a hand at the small of her back.  Looking over in surprise, she saw a small smile playing over Barnes' face.  He glanced down at her with mischief in his eyes as he gave her a wink.  

Snapping her head forward again, she suddenly remembered something Steve had said to her years ago when he'd been telling her about his best friend.  He'd said that Barnes was the most notorious skirt chaser in all of Brooklyn and all it took was one smile and a wink, and he could have any dame eating out of the palm of his hand.  As an unnerving warmth started to spread throughout her body, she finally understood what Steve had been talking about.  Barnes was a dangerous man, and she'd do well to be cautious of him.  She considered swatting his hand away, but decided that having someone in her corner might not be a bad thing, even if that someone was a complete stranger.

As much as she'd tried to prepare herself to see him, it still felt like a punch to the gut when she finally laid eyes on Tony.  He hadn't changed a bit, but she wasn't surprised.  He had a way of erecting a shield to hide his true emotions, and over the years YN had learned to see beyond the façade, but this time there was nothing to hide.  Getting back with Pepper had obviously been good for him, and it seemed as though the events in Germany hadn't taken as hard of a toll on him as it had on her.  

Steve and Nat had approached him first, so she hung back for a moment with Barnes still beside her.  His hand had shifted from the small of her back to rest on her hip, and she shot him a questioning glance.  She knew he could feel her glare, but he only offered her one side-eyed smirk as he pulled her a little closer to him.  She caught a whiff of his intoxicating scent and she felt herself leaning into him as a smile began to tug at the corners of her mouth.

"YN."

She heard Tony's voice saying her name, and she immediately turned back to look at him.  She saw him glance down at Barnes' hand resting possessively on her hip and she couldn't help the feeling of triumph at seeing his reaction.  If she had known what had transpired in Siberia, she might not have felt so pleased to see the anger in his eyes.  If she had known the truth, she might have thought twice before letting Barnes anywhere near her.

"Hello, Tony," she finally said, trying to keep her voice even.  

He gave her one last look of disgust before turning to the other man in the room.  YN hadn't paid any attention to anyone other than Tony, so she was surprised to see this stranger standing off to the side.  She'd been expecting the Ancient One, and her brows knitted in confusion as she took in everything about this man.  When she saw the pendant hanging from his neck, she took a step forward, her eyes round with shock.  "Who are you, and how the hell did you get the Eye of Agamotto?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _Thank you for reading Part 3 of this story! I hope you enjoyed it! What do you make of Bucky's fascination with her? Is he telling the truth about just trying to figure her out, or is there something more?? How did you feel about him flirting with her? Was he trying to help her fool Tony, or was he trying to goad Tony after what happened in Siberia? I'm sure you've all figured out who the "strange" man at the end is, but have you figured out the plot of this story yet?? I look forward to your comments!_


	4. Chapter 4

"My name is Doctor Stephen Strange," the mystery man said as he approached YN with an outstretched hand. "I've recently become the protector of the New York Sanctum. . ."

YN ignored his hand as her angry glare bored into him. "You've told me your name. That answers one question. I'm waiting for an explanation about the Eye. I can't believe that the Ancient One would trust it to just anyone."

Dropping his hand awkwardly, his brows knit together as a look of sadness came over his handsome face. "I'm sorry to have to be the one to tell you, but the Ancient One died about a year ago."

YN felt as though the floor had dropped out from underneath her. The Ancient One was dead? How? "I don't understand – she was immortal."

She could see the dilemma play out across his features as he tried to decide how much of the story he wanted to share. With every micro-expression that crossed his face, she became more and more enraged.

"Kaecilius turned his back on the mystic arts and tried to open a portal to allow the Dark Dimension to consume our universe. The Ancient One died trying to stop him. This will be hard to believe, but she had been drawing power from the Dark Dimension for centuries to ensure her immortality." Strange stopped for a moment and took a breath before continuing. "I borrowed the Eye to help those of us who survived Kaecilius' attack to defeat Dormammu in Hong Kong. . ."

"By borrowed, you mean stole," YN clarified with a huff. "Let me guess, Mordo didn't take too kindly to you manipulating time, regardless of the end result."

Strange gave her an astonished look. "You know Mordo well."

"Yes, I do," she said with a sigh. "He’s a magnificent sorcerer, but I'm not surprised that he's turned his back on the mystic arts." She paused for a moment as she thought about her former mentor before another question arose. "Wait. How do you know about me if the Ancient One is dead?"

A smile spread across Strange's face. "Wong told me about you."

YN closed her eyes and shook her head. Wong had been one of her best friends while she was at Kamar-Taj. "How is Wong?"

"He's well," Strange said, finally feeling like he was making a little headway with YN. Wong had offered to come with him, but he'd convinced him to stay in the New York Sanctum just in case Mordo tried something while Strange was in Upstate New York.

"I hate to interrupt this little walk down memory lane," Tony said with his usual aplomb. "But I believe you said something about this Mordo character being a threat to all of us."

Strange turned back to Tony and nodded his head. "Mordo wants to rid the world of magic because he thinks that there are too many sorcerers. I've seen the Dark Dimension, so I understand that evil exists within the multiverse, and it's my belief that we need as many sorcerers as we can get to keep us safe."

YN began to shake her head. "If you're here to try to talk me into using magic again, you've wasted your time. I left that part of my life behind me when I left Kamar-Taj, and I have no intentions of. . ."

"We need someone who knows Mordo," Strange said, interrupting her. "So many of us died during Kaecilius' attack, and you're the only one who knows him well enough to try to reason with him. If you don't want to use magic again, that's fine. I just need you with me when he tries to take over the New York Sanctum."

"I can do that," YN said with a nod. "My bag is already packed. I assume you have a sling ring, so we can leave at once."

"You're not going alone," Nat interjected with a look of astonishment on her face.

"This isn't your fight," YN said as she looked at everyone in the room. "I always knew my past would come back to haunt me – I just never dreamed it would be like this. You guys have no idea what the mystic arts are really like, and I can't ask you to fight a battle that you're ill-equipped to handle."

"We fought the Chitauri," Tony said as he gave YN a hard stare. "We fought Ultron. We just recently fought ourselves. We weren't equipped to handle any of those situations and yet I think we did okay."

YN couldn't deny his logic, but she knew that protesting further would only lead to another argument. She didn't want the Avengers anywhere near her old life, but it was for selfish reasons. She didn't like people knowing too much about her, and mixing her old life with her new one was just asking for trouble. Finally accepting that she would never talk them out of joining her and Strange, she nodded.

"Field trip," Tony announced with a clap of his hands as he shooed everyone out of the conference room. "Don't forget to pack your sunscreen and make sure you know who your battle buddy is – can't have anyone getting left behind out there."

YN and Nat shared a look that was both exasperation and relief that they were finally home again. Nat subtly nodded her head toward the kitchen and YN followed her out of the conference room, leaving Steve and Bucky to deal with Strange.

"What was that with you and Barnes?" Nat asked as she grabbed a couple bottles of water from the refrigerator.

"I honestly don't know," YN said with a shake of her head. "One second he was questioning my reasons for siding against Tony and the next he was acting like my boyfriend." She took the bottle from Nat and unscrewed the lid before tilting it up and taking a drink. "I know Steve said he was a ladies’ man back in the day, but I didn't think his memories were all that great, and why would he hit on a woman he knew was in love with someone else?"

Nat gave YN a long look before finally deciding to tell her the truth. "There's something you don't know."

The tone of Nat's voice had the hairs on the back of YN's neck standing up. "What?"

The blonde shot a quick glance toward the conference room to make sure Steve and Bucky were out of earshot before divulging her secret. "Steve and I spent a lot of time talking on the flight here. Turns out the Winter Soldier was responsible for the deaths of Tony's parents." 

YN took a few moments to process this new information. "I can only imagine how Tony took that news. You don't think Barnes only did it to get a rise out of Tony?"

"I don't know," Nat said shrugging her shoulders. "Steve said that Barnes was having a hard time dealing with the things he was forced to do while HYDRA had control of him. He told me that the final battle between the three of them was pretty brutal – you did notice that Barnes has a new arm. Turns out Tony blasted the other one right off his shoulder."

YN's eyes grew large as she tried to imagine the amount of pain and rage that Tony must have felt to have done something so extreme. "Tony has to realize that it wasn't Barnes that killed his parents. Howard and Maria were killed by HYDRA – the Soldier was just the tool they used."

"You and I can see it that way," Nat argued, "but you know how Tony is, especially when it comes to his mother."

"So, if Barnes wasn't trying to goad Tony, then why did he do it?"

Nat shook her head as she finished off her bottle of water. "If I had to harbor a guess, I'd say he was trying to offer you some support. He'd seen how Tony had hurt Steve, and he'd deduced from our conversations that Tony has hurt you. . ." Nat stopped for a moment and pointed an accusatory finger in her face when YN started to protest. "Don't try to deny it. Tony knows how you feel about him, and he's used that to manipulate you more times than I care to count."

YN let out a sigh and looked up at the ceiling to keep the tears from forming in her eyes. She knew Nat was right and that's what bothered her the most. She'd knowingly let Tony manipulate her into doing things that she would never agree to had it been anyone else that had been doing the asking. He'd broken her heart time and time again, but maybe now was the time for her to stand up for herself and stop the cycle. 

"Barnes might be a good friend to have, but you need to realize that by aligning yourself with him, you're alienating yourself from Tony," Nat warned.

With a steely resolve in her eyes, YN said, "Maybe it's time I started worrying about myself and let Tony figure things out on his own."

With a look of pride in her eyes, Nat wrapped and arm around YN and steered her back toward the conference room. "It's about damn time."

 

When the rest of the team reconvened in the conference room, it was apparent that there was still a line drawn in the sand separating them from one another. YN and Nat had converged on one side of the table with Steve and Bucky while Tony, Vision, and Rhodey occupied the opposite side. YN saw Tony take notice before shooting her a disappointed glare. Before, a look like that would have had her going out of her way to get back into his good graces, but now it did nothing but fuel her anger.

"So what's the plan?" Tony asked Strange.

Strange's mangled fingers played over the sling ring on his left hand as he started to lay out his strategy. "We've gotten word that Mordo has gained a following of like-minded believers and will be making a play on the New York Sanctum soon. I'd like to have all of you in place to help contain the collateral damage with my other sorcerers while YN and I try to talk him down."

"Do you really think he'll listen to me?" YN asked. "He was highly disappointed in me when I left Kamar-Taj."

"To be honest, I don't," Strange said with a shrug. "I'm hoping that just the sight of you will disorient him enough that I can gain the upper hand on him."

Rhodey was the only one brave enough to ask the question they were all thinking. "Do you plan to take him alive?" 

Strange pursed his lips for a moment before answering. "I'd like to, yes, but that will depend on Mordo."

YN sat back in her chair and contemplated Strange's words. She'd seen so many people die over the years – some of them friends and other enemies – but each one had taken a toll on her. The thought of Mordo dying was disturbing, but even the Ancient One had warned that his rigid-ness would bring about his own demise someday. "Mordo won't be made to see reason – it's just not in him. I don't want to kill him, but Strange is right. The Masters of the Mystic Arts protect this world in ways none of you can imagine. If Mordo succeeds in ridding the world of sorcerers, then the Earth will be at risk from anyone or anything that would want to do humankind harm."

"Then it's agreed," Tony said as he began to stand. "Mordo has to be stopped, and we're the ones who are going to do it."

"There's not that many of us, Tony," Steve said as he sat with his chin on his hand. 

Tony gave Steve a dismissive look. "Got it covered. I'll call the kid once we're back in the city."

"You are not bringing that kid into this, Tony," Rhodey warned with a stern look.

"That kid saved all of our asses a few months ago," Tony reminded his best friend. "He's young, but he's got spunk."

"We're talking about the spider-kid, right?" Steve asked. "The one you brought to Germany last year?"

"Yeah, that's the one," Tony said with a smirk. "Not your biggest fan, Cap, but then again, you can't win 'em all."

"I don't know what worries me more," Nat said with a smug look aimed at Tony, "the fact that he's a kid, or that he hero worships you."

"I hate to break up this rousing family squabble, but we should probably be going if we have any chance of actually stopping Mordo," Strange interrupted, sarcasm dripping off his words.

"Strange is right," YN said as she rose from her seat and walked toward the sorcerer.

"The jet's this way," Tony said in confusion as he pointed toward the door.

YN gave him a smirk as she nodded toward Strange. "We won't be needing the jet today."

Strange held up his left hand as he began to move his other one in a circular motion. An arc of orange sparks erupted out of thin air and rapidly grew large enough for them all to walk through.

Tony narrowed his eyes as he began to walk around the portal. "So this is how you were able to appear out of thin air on my front lawn. Fascinating."

YN had never been inside of the New York Sanctum, but she instantly recognized the wide staircase in the front hall from pictures she’d seen in Kamar-Taj. With a smile of nostalgia, she swept past the astonished members of her team and stepped back into a world she never thought she'd see again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _Thank you for reading Part 4 of this story! I hope you enjoyed it!   Tensions are still running high between our heroes.  Do you think the team is ever going to get over what happened with the Sokovia Accords? What do you think is going to happen once Mordo shows up?  I look forward to your comments!_


	5. Chapter 5

YN had only made it a few steps into the Sanctum before she was enveloped in a bear hug. Knowing that it was Wong, she lifted her arms to return the embrace.

"It's good to see you again," Wong told her, letting go as the others began to exit the portal.

"I'm sorry that it's under these circumstances," YN said as she gave him a pained look. 

Wong gave the newly arrived group of people a nod before turning back to YN. "We'll talk later."

YN wanted to talk to him now, but Strange had begun ushering them all up the wide, sweeping staircase to the guest rooms on the third floor. Her desire to speak to her old friend was lost as her eyes wondered over the displays of relics scattered throughout the Sanctum. While she'd been a Master of the Mystic Arts, she'd always wanted to visit the New York Sanctum, and had even entertained the idea of being its protector at some point in her life. Now she was faced with the reminders of her former life as she tried to figure out if it was regret or simply nostalgia that filled her heart with sorrow.

Once she'd dropped off her suitcase in the ornate room she'd been assigned, she headed to the one place she knew she could find her old friend. Although she'd never stepped foot into this building before today, she had no problems locating the library. Not ready to admit that magic still flowed through her, she tried to tell herself that she just had good instincts.

Wong was sitting at a long table with a large book open before him. He didn't look up as she entered, but she was certain that he knew she was there. Taking a seat beside him, she patiently waited for him to acknowledge her.

"Many things have changed since you left," he stated matter-of-factly as he carefully closed the book to meet her gaze.

"Is it true?" She didn't need to elaborate further – Wong knew exactly what she meant.

With a pained look, he nodded his head. "I should have known – we all should have known – but we chose to deny the truth so that we could benefit from her wisdom. Was it wrong? I don't know, and after what happened in Hong Kong with Kaecilius, I'm even more conflicted."

"So Strange really can control the Eye of Agamotto?" she asked.

Wong nodded his head. "Again, is it wrong to manipulate time if it means saving the world?"

YN didn't answer, but she didn't think that Wong had been looking for one when he'd asked the question. They sat in silence for a few moments as YN prepared to ask him about her mentor. Finally unable to ignore it any longer, she asked, "Is there no reasoning with him at all?"

Wong's lips formed a hard line. "When he realized what Strange had done, something within him snapped. To him, it didn't matter that Dormammu had intended to destroy the world – Strange's actions were just as bad as Kaecilius'."

"When do you think he'll. . ."

YN's question was interrupted by the sound of an explosion. Her eyes grew large as a sinking feeling settled in her gut.

"Apparently, now," Wong said as he pushed back from the table and sprang to his feet.

YN was right behind him as they raced through the halls toward the sound of the commotion. As she thought about facing her former mentor in battle, she wished – for the first time in years – that she hadn't given up the use of magic. All of the hand-to-hand combat training in the world was no match for for a Master of the Mystic Arts.

As she and Wong rushed down the stairs toward the front entrance, the other members of the Avengers joined them. Steve was almost unrecognizable in his stained and battered uniform, his long, shaggy hair flying behind him as he ran. The shock of Nat's blonde hair still threw YN for a loop, but somehow the new look suited her once YN saw her and Steve together. Bucky's hair had grown longer and his beard had filled in during his time in Wakanda, but he hadn't lost the hard glint in his eye as he prepared himself for another battle. Tony and Rhodey were both suited up and had chosen to fly with Vision instead of taking the stairs.

YN looked for Mordo amongst the crowd trying to break past Strange's defenses, but she couldn't see him. Strange looked over his shoulder before giving a decisive nod toward her and Wong. In that moment, she knew that he'd only been holding them off long enough to give everyone time to close ranks before he implemented the next part of his plan. With a flick of his wrists, the world around them became a fractal distortion. She should have known that Strange would want to encase them in a Mirror Dimension to contain the collateral damage, but this would definitely put her new team at a disadvantage.

"What the hell?" Tony shouted as Mordo stepped forward and began to manipulate the ground beneath them.

"Think of it like _Inception_ ," YN called out, earning her a few confused looks from the other sorcerers Strange and Wong had enlisted to help them battle Mordo. The sorcerers may not have understood the reference, but the Avengers knew exactly what she was talking about and immediately began to adapt to the rapidly changing surfaces beneath their feet.

Mordo had heard her voice and for a split second had stopped in his tracks. Strange had been waiting for that exact moment – had laid out his entire plan on this exact reaction from his and YN's former mentor. Taking advantage of his surprise, he forced Mordo and the rest of his cohorts out into the street.

Mordo had recovered quickly, but not quickly enough. He'd had the element of surprise on his side in the beginning, but now the tables had turned and he suddenly found himself on the defense. Strange had spent his time following the battle in Hong Kong honing his skills in preparation for this very day and he was anxious to prove himself worthy of being a Master of the Mystic Arts.

Just like Mordo, his small army had recovered and the battle had begun in earnest. YN was struggling to make her way to Mordo, but the ground beneath her was unpredictable and it had been too long since she'd trained in the Mirror Dimension. Out of all of the people in this battle, she was the one at the greatest disadvantage. The Avengers were adapting to the changing topography by using their training, and the other sorcerers were manipulating their surroundings using magic. Every instinct in YN was telling her use magic, and by fighting against that instinct, she was losing focus on her S.H.I.E.L.D. training. She was torn between two worlds, and if she couldn't get herself together soon, she wouldn't make it out of this battle alive.

The sun had dipped below the horizon while she'd been in the library with Wong, so the street lamps and the light spilling from the windows of the buildings surrounding them were the only illumination they had. The sorcerers were creating their own light with the bright orange sparks that erupted every time they used their magic, but this battle was one fraught with darkness and both sides were struggling with this new obstacle.

Nat had seen YN scrambling to find her rhythm and had made her way through the contorted maze the world had suddenly become to reach her. YN had felt her friend's presence beside her and a wave of calm flooded her system. She pushed down the urge to resort to magic and instead focused all of her energy on the skills and maneuvers Nat had taught her over the years. With her friend by her side, she was finally able to fight her way towards Mordo. She wasn't sure why, but she felt as though if she could just get to him that he would stop and listen to reason before it was too late.

As she and Nat battled their way toward Strange and Mordo, YN sensed the other members of the Avengers flanking them as they began to push Mordo's sorcerers back. Her team may not have magic, but they were skilled fighters and with the help of Strange's sorcerers, Mordo and his army were no match for them.

"Mordo," YN called out once she was close enough to him.

Her former mentor turned toward the sound of her voice. Strange wasted no time once he saw his opening and turned the full force of his magic upon Mordo. YN stopped and watched as her old friend was rendered immobile. She heard, more than saw, the battle around her begin to end. With their leader unable to defend them, his group of followers were quickly subdued by Wong and the other sorcerers fighting on their side.

"You shouldn't be here," Mordo snarled as he glared at his former student. "You abandoned the Mystic Arts long ago."

"I'm not using magic, or didn't you notice that?" she asked as she spread her hands wide. "You're the one who's abandoned the Mystic Arts. Ridding the world of sorcerers is only going to make it more susceptible to the dangers of the Multiverse."

"You're wrong," he said as he turned back toward Strange. "It would be better to allow the Earth to be destroyed than to allow this charlatan to alter the natural course. There's a reason why the Eye of Agamotto is forbidden."

Strange gave Mordo a sad look as YN took a step toward the two men. "Evil doesn't play by the rules, Mordo. You know that."

His face twisted with rage as he glared at his former students. "So you would have us stoop to their level?"

"Saving lives requires one to take calculated risks," Strange said. "Trust me, I understand that more than most."

"All you understand is your own arrogance," Mordo said.

YN shook her head in defeat as she turned to Strange. "What will you do with him now?"

Strange continued to hold him within a magical vice, but YN could tell that he was expending more energy than he dared to admit, even to himself. He half-turned to signal Wong and the rest of the Masters to help him contain Mordo, but Mordo had also seen Strange's struggle. Taking advantage of the opportunity, he broke free of Strange's hold and made a move toward the Eye.

The world seemed to move in slow motion for YN. One second, Mordo had been held imprisoned by Strange's magic, and the next he was lunging for the glowing green pendant hanging from the other man's neck. YN wasn't sure what would happen if Mordo got his hand on the Eye, but she knew that he was the last person on Earth who needed to be in possession of it. Instinctively she reached out to try to stop Mordo, but it was as though she was moving through quicksand. Helplessly she watched as Mordo's hand wrapped around the Eye. Strange had reacted by pulling away, but he was too late. YN watched in horror as the chain holding the pendant snapped in two, but just as Mordo tightened his grasp on the Eye, a repulsor blast hit his wrist.

Writhing in pain, Mordo's grip on the Eye loosened and the pendant began to fall to the ground. The glass encasing the green stone shattered causing the stone to begin bouncing across the pavement. YN started to call out for everyone to move away, but her voice was caught in her throat. She watched as the stone bounced toward the group of Avengers around her and panic welled up within her as she saw Barnes reach out to catch it.

"No," she screamed, her voice finally coming back to her. Without thinking, she lunged toward Barnes to stop him. She grabbed his arm, but she was too late – he'd already wrapped the fingers of his right hand around the stone.

With a blinding flash of green light, YN was propelled backward through the air. The force of the blast coupled with the impact on the hard pavement beneath her forced all of the air from her lungs. She lay motionless for a few moments as she struggled to catch her breath. Finally able to draw air into her lungs, she rolled over onto her side with a groan of pain.

The street around her was empty except for Barnes lying a few yards away from her. She could tell that the blast had knocked the wind out of him as well. Everything around them was eerily peaceful and YN couldn't understand what had happened. Where was everyone?

Struggling to her feet, she slowly turned a full circle, but somehow they were the only two people on the deserted street. She looked back toward the Sanctum to find it completely dark. Walking up the short flight of stairs, she tried the door, but it was locked. Completely confused, she began to pound on the door, but it was as if no one was there.

"YN," Barnes said from behind her.

She turned around, hoping that he'd found some clue as to what had happened to them, but he was simply standing on the sidewalk holding a wind-battered newspaper. "What?"

Holding out the paper toward her, he said, "I think you need to see this."

With her brows knitted in confusion, she grabbed the paper from him and began scanning the print.  The headline read "Soviet and Britain Sign War and Peace Pact; Molotoff and Roosevelt Plan for 2D Front; Army Fliers Blasted Two Fleets Off Midway."  Even more confused than before, she looked back up at the top of the paper.  The newspaper fluttered free from her grasp as she looked back up to meet Barnes' equally confused eyes.  "We're in 1942?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _Thank you for reading Part 5 of this story!  I hope you enjoyed it! It didn't take long for Mordo to show up!  Did you enjoy the battle?  It seems like the Reader and Bucky have somehow found themselves in 1942?  Guess Bucky shouldn't have touched the Time Stone!  What do you think is going to happen now?  I look forward to your comments!_


	6. Chapter 6

Bucky glanced at the empty street around them. Where there had once been multitudes of people and cars, now there was nothing but vacant sidewalks. Could he and YN really be in 1942, and if so, how?

"What was that green stone?" he asked, drawing YN out of her thoughts.

"The stone," she said, her eyes lighting in excitement. "Do you still have it?"

Bucky shook his head and held out his empty hand. "No. The second I touched it. . ." He hesitated for a moment, trying to find the words to describe what had happened to him. "It was like trying to put two magnets with identical poles together – I could feel the stone pulling away from me at the same time it was pushing me away from it."

YN's excitement died as she turned to look back toward the darkened Sanctum behind her. "I'll be honest, I have no idea how to control the Eye, but if you'd managed to keep ahold of it, then we might have been able to figure out some way of getting back to our own time."

"You really think we're in 1942?" he asked, his brows knitted together in confusion. "Just like that, you're ready to believe that we traveled through time?"

She took a deep breath and sat on the stoop of the Sanctum. "The Eye of Agamotto is a powerful relic, and the one who wields it has the ability to control time. They can either go forward or backward, and I've even heard that it's possible to create a continuous time loop. It's a very dangerous relic which is why Mordo is enraged that Strange dares to use it."

He looked up at the Sanctum before asking, "Can't we just break in and steal it?"

She shook her head as she let out a soft chuckle. "There's no breaking into a Sanctum – there are magical wards in place that will stop anyone from trying." She paused and looked down at her hands as she began to flex her fingers. 

"So what do we do now?"

She buried her face in her hands and let out a sigh. "I have no idea, Barnes. I just wish Tony were here – he'd know what to do."

Her words cut through him like a knife. Of course she wouldn't want to be stuck in a situation like this with him – no one would. He may not have been around Steve's friends that long, but it was easy to see how she felt about Stark, and that he didn't share those feelings, so it hurt even more that she would prefer to have that pompous playboy by her side. Thinking of Tony only reminded him of Howard and he couldn't help but compare the two men and come to the conclusion that Howard was twice the man his son had turned out to be.

"Stark," Bucky said aloud as a realization suddenly dawned on him.

She gave him a confused look. "I just said that. He's not here."

"Tony's not," Bucky clarified, "but he's not the only Stark with a genius level IQ."

YN finally understood where he was going and a smile spread across her face. "Howard was alive in 1942. . ."

"And working with Dr. Erskine on Project: Rebirth," Bucky interjected. "Now we just have to convince him that we're from the future and enlist his help to get back."

"Do you know where he lives?"

"I do," he said with a smirk, "and so do you." When she gave him a confused look, he explained further. "Where do you think Tony got the property to build his tower?"

"Ah," she said with a shake of her head. "Of course. Just like every other facility the Avengers use, it used to belong to Howard." She stood and brushed off the back of her pants before looking up and down the street. "Which way?"

It wasn't that long of walk from the Sanctum to the site of the future Avengers Tower, but it was long enough to give YN time to think of how to approach Tony's dad. It also gave her time to remember what Nat had told her just before they'd left the compound. She cast a worried glance at her companion and wondered if he was thinking the same thing she was – how do you face the man you know you're going to kill in fifty years?

"So, Barnes," she began, suddenly nervous about broaching the subject.

"I know what you're going to say," he told her as he glanced at her with sorrow-filled eyes. "He was once a friend of mine – I guess he still will be. . .in a few years from now. . ."

"Wait," she said, coming to a stop and laying a hand on his arm. "You're here."

He gave her a wary look. "I know I'm here. . .and so are you."

A huge smile broke out across her face as she shook her head. "No. I mean, yes. I mean. . . I'm not doing a good job of explaining this. Yes, we're both here, but you – the 1942 version of you – is also here."

"I don't see how that's going to do us any good."

"Well, obviously _you_ can't be of any help to us, but there's also someone else here in 1942 that's still alive in our time that can."

"Steve," they said in unison.

"What do you suggest?" he asked as they rounded the corner and spotted Howard's building down the street. "I can't just waltz up to Steve looking like this." He held out his metal arm for emphasis before continuing. "The poor guy will have an asthma attack, go into shock, and die before he has a chance to sign his dumb ass up for an experimental super soldier program, assemble the Howling Commandos, and dive bomb a plane into the Arctic so he can be frozen for seventy years in order to come back and save us in 1942."

"Wow."

"What?"

"Still a little salty about that, aren't you?" She gave him a playful nudge as she stopped in front of Howard's door.

"He's a stupid punk," Bucky muttered under his breath.

"Yeah," she agreed, "but right now that works in our advantage." She looked up at the lights shining through the windows of Howard's building. "I guess we don't have to bother Howard after all. Any idea where you and Steve are tonight? You may not be able to approach him, but I can."

Bucky turned his head and gave her a quick once-over. "You really think he'll take you seriously, especially when you look like _that_?"

She looked down at herself, offended at his comment. "What do you mean? I look fine."

"Doll," he said, his voice full of exasperation. "You're wearing skintight tactical gear and you look like you were just in a brawl – which you were, by the way. Steve won't take you seriously, and he'll probably try to have you committed – for your own safety of course."

"So what do you suggest?"

"We stick with the original plan," he told her as he walked up the stairs to the front door. "We convince Howard that we're who we say we are and maybe he'll take pity on us and give us a place to stay until we can come up with a plan to make Steve believe you."

She grabbed his arm to stop him from knocking. "What are you going to tell Howard about. . .?" She let the question die, but he knew what she meant.

His lips formed a hard line as sadness washed over his features. "We can't risk telling him too much, especially that. We'll just tell him what he needs to know and hope that we don't screw up the future too much."

"The Butterfly Effect," she said with a sigh as she let go of his arm. When he stared at her in confusion, she elaborated. "It's Chaos Theory. Basically, something small and insignificant has the potential to have a larger effect on future events than one would suppose. Like, if a butterfly flaps its wings one time too many in New York, it can trigger a typhoon in Japan."

"That's exactly what we don't want to happen," he agreed. "If we change too much then we might end up changing the future so much that we'll never have a chance of getting back."

"Agreed. We keep things as vague as possible."

Bucky nodded and raised his hand again to knock. They stood in silence as they heard someone walking toward the door. Light washed across the stoop as a tall man in a tailored suit gave them a critical look before pursing his lips and letting out a deep sigh.

"May I help you?" he asked in a tone that suggested that he was accustomed to having oddly dressed strangers standing on his doorstep all of the time.

YN had initially assumed that he was Howard, but hearing his voice had her jaw dropping open. "Jarvis?"

"Yes, ma'am," Jarvis said, confusion evident on his face. "Have we met before?"

"No," she quickly assured him. "It's a long story."

"We're here to see Mr. Stark," Bucky said, hoping to distract the butler from YN's slip up.

"And whom may I say is calling?" Jarvis asked, his British accent making his words sound a bit condescending.

"Tell him we're here about Project: Rebirth," Bucky answered, playing his ace in the hole and hoping it would be enough to pique Howard's interest.

Jarvis' eyes narrowed slightly, and if YN hadn't been paying close attention, she would have probably missed the minute reaction. He gave them a curt nod and motioned for them to enter the foyer. "Please wait here while I inform Mr. Stark of your arrival."

The butler did an abrupt about-face that, coupled with his stiff-backed posture, had her deducing that Mr. Jarvis had a military background that she hadn't been aware of. Tony rarely spoke of the real Jarvis – the man who had all but raised him while his parents were off on one of their many extravagant trips. All she really knew about the man was the sound of his voice. Judging from the way he'd reacted toward them, she had a feeling that Tony had instilled a lot of the man's attitude into the AI he'd created to honor him. 

"How did you know his name?" Bucky whispered once Jarvis was out of earshot. "I thought he sounded like that Vision guy."

YN let out a soft huff as a smile spread across her face. How to explain J.A.R.V.I.S. and Vision in just a few minutes? She settled for the abridged version of the story and was just about to finish telling him about Ultron when an oddly-familiar man came sauntering down the stairs.

Howard stopped at the foot of the stairs and unabashedly gave them a critical once-over. He was just about to speak when his gaze caught sight of Bucky's arm. His eyes grew wide as he walked closer and reached out a hand. He quickly glanced up at Bucky to silently ask permission before taking hold of the metal appendage and turning Bucky's hand over in his.

YN watched Bucky closely as Howard examined Bucky's new arm. She knew that it wasn't the weapon HYDRA had created, and she just hoped that he remembered that as well. Looking at his face, she could see the torment that played across his features. She couldn't begin to imagine how hard it was to face Howard knowing what he knew of the future, and completely helpless to stop it.

"You two are not with Project: Rebirth," he announced as he dropped Bucky's hand. "But I have a feeling you've got one hell of a story to tell." He nodded toward a doorway on his right. "Come, have a drink with me."

YN and Bucky exchanged a glance before shrugging their shoulders and following Howard into what appeared to be his den. He was at a sidebar pouring whisky into three short glasses. When he'd finished, he turned and offered each of his guests a glass before taking a seat in a large, wingback chair. YN and Bucky sat beside one another on the couch facing Howard and took a sip of their drinks. After the day they'd had, they both deserved a stiff drink.

"So," Howard began once they'd settled in. "Who are you really? And don't play games with me. I'm a curious man, but I don't take kindly to people who try to bamboozle me."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _Thank you for reading Part 6 of this story! I hope you enjoyed it!   Well, it seems like our two protagonists are truly stuck in 1942!  I'm not sure if any of you watched Agent Carter, but if you didn't, you missed out on meeting Edwin Jarvis, who is just an amazing character and one I'm glad to finally get a chance to write.  How do you think Bucky is going to handle being around the man HYDRA forced the Soldier to kill?  Do you think the guilt is going to start eating at him, and how will that affect their attempts to get back to the future?  Do you think Howard is going to believe them?  What about Steve? I look forward to your comments!_


	7. Chapter 7

"So, you expect me to believe that the two of you are from the future, and you need my help to get back?" Howard asked once YN had given him a very vague version of events that had led her and Bucky to his doorstep.

"I realize that it seems like a preposterous story," YN began, but was interrupted by Bucky.

"Mr. Stark," Bucky said as he leaned forward and rested his elbows on his knees. "Howard. You've seen my arm. Tell me, as one of the foremost authorities in all things technological, have you ever seen anything like it?"

YN gave Bucky a sharp look which he brushed off. Furious that he would draw attention to the new vibranium arm that he'd apparently picked up from King T'Challa during his stay in Wakanda, she tried to steer the conversation back to the matter at hand.

"Mr. Stark," she said, drawing their host's eyes back to her before he had a chance to answer Bucky. "Sergeant Barnes' prosthetic arm is truly a technological marvel, but that's not the reason why we're here."

Howard gave YN an appreciative once-over that had embarrassment washing over her. It seemed like Tony's father found her to be an attractive woman – too bad his son didn't share his taste in women. Mentally shaking her head to clear her thoughts, she forced herself to concentrate on what Howard was saying to her.

"Ms. YLN," Howard said with a sexy smirk on his face. "I must admit that there key elements to your story that imply that you're telling the truth, but I'm afraid I don't understand what it is that you think I can do to help you."

YN cast a nervous glance toward Bucky. She'd already told Howard too much information, and she was hesitant to keep compounding the negative effect they may be having on the future the longer this conversation keep going. Letting out a worried breath, she rose from the couch and motioned for Bucky to follow her. "Please excuse us, Mr. Stark. Sergeant Barnes and I need to have a private word before we say anything else."

Without waiting to see the reactions on either man's face, she quickly strode from the room. Stopping in the entryway, she pressed her fingers to her temples and closed her eyes. When she heard footsteps on the hardwood floor behind her, she immediately recognized them as Bucky's. She didn't bother to turn around before asking, "Is this really worth compromising the future of everyone we love?"

"What do you mean?" Bucky asked, speaking to her back since she refused to turn around and face him.

"I mean that maybe we should just walk out the door right now and forget about trying to find a way home."

"You want to stay here?" he asked. "In 1942?"

Finally turning around to face him, she was shocked to see the look of horror on his face. "Would it really be that bad?"

"Would it really be that bad?" he repeated, his voice full of exasperation. "In case you've forgotten, you don't exist in 1942 – you don't have a birth certificate, a social security number, or any kind of identification at all. And we can't ignore that fact that I do exist in 1942. What happens if we run into someone I know and they recognize me? What happens if I run into me?"

"We could go somewhere else," she offered. She started to elaborate, but the look on Bucky's face had her closing her mouth again and taking a deep breath.

Bucky stepped closer and laid a hand on her shoulder. "I know you're scared of saying too much – trust me, I get it – but we can't do this alone and right now Howard is our only option. We can't risk me being out on the streets. If anyone were to see my arm, I can almost guarantee that the future as we know it will be altered."

"You're right," YN agreed as her eyes grew large. "It'll be Skynet all over again."

"Skynet?" Bucky asked, his brows knitting together in confusion.

YN shook her head as a smile spread across her face and she patted the hand that still rested on her shoulder. "Remind me when we finally get back to our time to get you and Steve caught up on twentieth century pop culture." 

Ignoring her comment, Bucky continued. "The point I'm trying to make is that we can trust Howard. The man knows how to keep a secret."

"How can you be so sure?"

"When I first saw the guy. . ." Bucky's eyes darted up and to the side as he thought for a moment. "Well, I guess it'll be in a few weeks if I'm remembering correctly. Anyway, he put on this elaborate show of being a hapless inventor and made a laughingstock of himself. I found out years later that it was all just a front to hide the real genius behind Project: Rebirth. He's not like Tony, who can't stand being out of the limelight. Howard knows how to keep his cards close to his chest. If we can convince him that this secret needs to stay a secret, I'm confident he'll keep it."

YN had wanted to jump in and defend Tony, but she stopped herself. One, she needed to stop her self-destructive behavior when it came to Tony, and two, Bucky wasn't wrong about Tony needing to constantly be in the limelight. Feeling confident with Bucky's assessment of Howard, she walked back into the den. Howard was just where they'd left him, although it appeared as though he'd refilled his glass of whisky while they'd been conversing in the foyer. She took a seat on the sofa again and waited until Bucky joined her before addressing Howard.

"Okay," she began as the seriousness in her tone had Howard sitting up a little straighter. "I know you're curious about us – about the future – but you're going to have to trust us when we say that there are some things that we can't risk telling you. . ."

"Let me just stop you there for a minute," Howard said as he stood and began pacing the room. "For argument's sake, let's say that I believe you. You're from the future, and you've traveled back in time." He paused to give them a look of chastisement. "And you refuse to tell me how. Just the mere fact that you're in my house is changing my personal timeline as we speak."

"Yes," YN said, feeling hopeful that he actually believed them. "From what we know of you, we believe that you can be trusted to keep our presence here a secret – from everyone."

Howard stopped pacing and finally zeroed in on the one detail that had been dancing around in the back of his mind. A smug smile began tugging at the corners of his lips as his chest puffed out a bit. "I'm famous in the future? What am I talking about? Of course I'm famous – I'm Howard Stark." He seemed to forget that they were in the room as he started pacing again, his gaze wandering around the room as his mind began working overtime. "Project: Rebirth. You know about the Super Soldier Program so that means it's a success."

Howard suddenly turned and with wide eyes he rushed back to Bucky's side and grabbed his arm again. "Are you one? A Super Soldier?"

YN felt the tension begin to roll off of Bucky in waves as he undoubtedly began to remember the torture he'd undergone at the hands of HYDRA during WWII. While it was technically true that he was a Super Soldier, it hadn't been due to Project: Rebirth, but the bastardized version of the serum Zola had concocted. The bastardized version of the serum Howard and Dr. Erskine had used on Steve that would ensure that Bucky stayed alive during countless years of brainwashing and cyrogenic freezing so that he could murder the man standing in front of them on December 16, 1991.

"We obviously can't tell you that," YN said, trying to keep her voice light and flirty so Howard would drop the subject. It seemed to have worked as his attention shifted from Bucky to her. She tried to keep the pleasant smile on her face, but her eyes kept darting to Bucky to make sure that he wasn't about to snap.

"You're both Super Soldiers, aren't you?" Howard asked as he began to nod his head. "Of course you are. That's why you came to me." He paused again as confusion clouded his eyes. "But I still don't understand how I'm supposed to get you back to your own time."

"We have a friend here," Bucky said.

YN nervously glanced at him and was concerned to see the torment in his eyes. She couldn't begin to understand what he was feeling right now, but as the night wore on, he continued to gain her respect by the way he was handling this situation. 

Howard once again looked confused. "I don't understand? How can you have a friend in 1942?"

"It's complicated," YN said as she tried to figure out how much she could tell Howard. "It's another long story, but he'll recognize Sergeant Barnes if he sees him. I didn't meet him until later in his life, so he won't know me. He's our ticket for getting back to our time. We were just hoping that you would help us out by giving us a place to stay and some clothes to help us blend in."

"Two conditions," Howard said as he sat down again and grabbed his glass of whisky.

YN and Bucky looked at one another before YN spoke. "What conditions?"

"One," Howard began. "You tell me your plan to get back, and two, I get to examine Sergeant Barnes' arm."

"I'll be more than happy to tell you our plan," YN said quickly, "but as for Sergeant Barnes' arm. . ."

"It's fine YN," Bucky interrupted as he looked into her eyes. "Mr. Stark can take a look at my arm – I trust him."

She knew it was a bad idea, but right now they were out of options. They were exhausted and hungry and they had nowhere else to go. Howard's demands weren't that unreasonable, but YN was worried about him and Bucky spending too much time together – not for fear that Howard would learn too much about the future, but that Bucky wouldn't be able to handle spending so much time with the man he would ultimately betray in fifty years.

"Okay," she reluctantly agreed. 

Excitement danced in Howard's eyes as he thought about all the things he could learn from Sergeant Barnes' prosthetic arm. He reigned in his excitement once he saw the weariness in YN's eyes. Reminding himself that they were exhausted, both mentally and physically, he decided that further discussion could wait until after they'd eaten something and got a good nights rest.

"Come with me," Howard said as he rose from the chair again and started walking back toward the foyer. 

YN and Bucky quickly followed, not knowing what Howard had planned for them next. He led them down a hallway off the foyer and YN was surprised when they entered a large kitchen where Mr. Jarvis and a petite redhead sat at a small table sipping tea and eating cookies.

"Ana, would you please make our guests something to eat?" Howard asked the woman with a warm smile on his face before turning back to YN and Bucky. "Ana makes the best goulash – you'll love it."

"Mr. Stark isn't exaggerating," Jarvis said as he went to the cupboard to take down a couple glasses. "Ana may be my wife, but everyone agrees that she's a phenomenal cook."

YN struggled not to blurt out the first thing that came to her mind. Jarvis had a wife? Tony had never mentioned a Mrs. Jarvis, but then again, he hadn't really said much about the real Jarvis either. She wondered how much of a role this woman had played in his life. Biting her tongue, she allowed Howard to pull out a chair for her at the tiny kitchen table while Bucky and Howard took the seats to her left.

"Are you American, dear?" Ana asked with a faint Hungarian accent as she placed two bowls of goulash in front of her, Bucky, and Howard. "It's just that I've never seen fashion quite like that before."

Bucky and Howard both gave her a look that clearly said "You're on your own" before they both began to eat. Deciding that sticking to the truth would be the simplest option, she gave Ana a brief explanation of her job – or former job – with S.H.I.E.L.D. "I'm an agent with a covert government agency. This outfit is what we call tactical gear and it allows me freer range of motion if I find myself in hand to hand combat with a hostile enemy."

"Oh," Ana said with a look of pure joy on her face. "Edwin and I have just recently taken up the ancient art of Judo and one of those tactile suits would be splendid for our sparring sessions."

"I believe it's called tactical gear, darling," Edwin corrected and he began passing out the glasses of wine.

"You spar?" YN asked, instantly taking a liking to redhead. For some reason Ana reminded her of Natasha and YN felt a pang of loneliness at the prospect of never seeing her best friend again.

"Will the two of you be staying with us for a while?" Ana asked as Jarvis held out a seat for her. "It would be nice to have a female sparring partner. My dear Edwin has a tendency to pull his punches although I constantly remind him that I'll never learn if he keeps coddling me."

YN didn't answer Ana's question, but rather glanced in Howard's direction with a raised eyebrow to indicate that he should come up with an explanation for her and Bucky's extended stay. Giving her a slight nod, he put down his spoon and turned to Ana.

"Ms. YLN and Sergeant Barnes will be staying with us for a days, maybe even a week or two," Howard explained. "They'll be helping me with that government contract I told you about a few months ago."

"Ah," Jarvis said, as if Howard's brief explanation answered all of his questions. "Once we finish dinner, Ana and I will prepare a few rooms for our guests then."

A giddy smile spread across Ana's face. "Wonderful. Do you have any other clothes with you, dear? We can't have you going out and about in your tactical gear. I'm a forward thinking woman, but other women in this town aren't, if you know what I mean."

"I'm glad you brought that up, Ana," Howard said. "Our two guests were out on a mission before they came here, so they'll need a wardrobe while they're with us. I know I can trust you to make sure that their every need is taken care of."

"Thank you," Bucky and YN said in unison, earning them a delighted smile from Ana.

YN and Bucky spent the rest of dinner recounting battle stories for Ana's amusement. Since HYDRA wasn't well known in the States at this point in the war, she simply referred to the enemy as German soldiers. YN learned that Ana was Jewish and that Jarvis had fallen in love with her early on in the war while he'd been serving under a general in the British Armed Forces. It was a romantic tale that ended with Jarvis forging a letter of transit to allow Ana to leave Nazi-occupied Budapest. Howard had brought both of them back to the States with him so that neither would face charges of treason. 

Learning details like this about Howard made YN rethink her opinion of Tony's father. She thought about her own relationship with the younger Stark, and realized that the two men were strikingly similar, not only in looks, but in temperament as well. Howard and Tony both cared deeply about the people closest to them, and they were hard on those people because they cared so much. Tony may not love her in the way that she wanted him to, but there was no doubt in her mind that he did care for her – it was just more along the same lines of how Howard cared about Jarvis and Ana. 

As she readied herself for bed, she used her new perspective on Stark men to re-evaluate her history with Tony. While it still hurt to know that he'd never see her the way she'd always wished he would, she could appreciate the friendship that they'd developed over the years. She knew that Nat was right in her belief that Tony used YN's feelings to steer her in the direction he wanted her to go, but it was never done with malice. She would just have to make sure that once they returned to the twenty-first century she made it clear to him that her days of blindly following him were over.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _Thank you for reading Part 7 of this story!  I hope you enjoyed it! Howard seems to be on board, even though he's still a bit skeptical of the Reader and Bucky.  What did you think of Ana?  If you haven't seen Agent Carter, you should really check out the scene where Peggy and Jarvis are sparring on YouTube - you'll really get a sense of Ana's character in that clip!  How do you feel about the Reader's new insight into Tony?  Do you think she's finally ready to let go of her unrequited love and open herself up to new prospects?  I had thought this was going to be a short series, but I've barely even scratched the surface of my original idea, so I hope you're ready for more!  I look forward to your comments!_


	8. Chapter 8

YN awoke suddenly and lay perfectly still as she tried to clear her sleep-muddled mind.  Keeping her breathing slow and steady, she opened one eye and glanced toward the nightstand and the familiar red glow of the digital alarm clock that should have been there. For a moment she wondered if the power had gone off, and the sound of silence had been what had awoken her, but then she realized that she wasn't in her own bed.  The room was enveloped in a thick blanket of darkness and she was struggling to make out the various pieces of furniture that sat along the walls of the bedroom Ana had shown her to earlier in the night.  As her brain fought through the layers of sleep that still weighed her down, she began to remember the events of the previous day and she allowed herself a moment of self-pity as she wondered if she and Bucky would ever make it back to the twenty-first century.

Her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of a floorboard creaking just outside of her bedroom door.  That must have been what had woken her up, but who was in the hallway creeping around in the middle of the night?  Reaching under her pillow, she pulled the knife she hidden there before bed from its sheath and slipped out from under the covers.  Silently cursing the nightgown that Ana had allowed her borrow, she picked up the hem with one hand while the other tightly gripped the hilt of the knife with the other.  Tiptoeing across the floor, she was careful not to make the same mistake as the person in the hallway, lest a creaking floorboard gave away the fact that she was awake and aware of the person lurking in the hall.

She stopped at the door and flattened her back against the wall next to it.  Listening carefully, she heard the muffled footsteps growing closer to her door.  Every instinct in her urged her to throw open the door and face the unknown person on the other side, but she reminded herself that there were four other people currently occupying rooms on this floor.  As far as she knew, no one other than Howard, Jarvis, and Ana knew she and Bucky were in 1942, but years of S.H.I.E.L.D. training forced her to stay alert and wary of anything out of the ordinary.  Someone creeping along the hallway in the wee hours of the morning was definitely out of the ordinary, but for all she knew, Tony had picked up his nocturnal working hours from his father, and the footsteps she heard were simply Howard coming or going from his workshop in the basement of the house.  It wouldn't do to hold their host at knifepoint just because she was too paranoid for her own good.

When the footsteps stopped in front of her door, she gripped the knife a little tighter and slowed her breathing as much as she could.  There was no light, either in the hallway, or her room, so she couldn't see the shadow of the person on the other side of the door.  Her heart began to pound in her ears despite the slow, shallow breaths she was forcing herself to take.  As blood started to rush through her ears she found it hard to hear anything that might give away the identity of the person that was only separated from her by a slab of oak.  She glanced down at the knob and distinctly remembered turning the thumb lock the night before, but she knew from experience that a lock that flimsy wouldn't stop someone that was determined to gain entry into her room.  She'd only locked it because she knew she would've never fallen asleep knowing anyone could silently slip into her room.  At least the breaking of the lock would've given her a few moments to prepare herself for an attack and allow her a chance to arm herself.

She was growing impatient with the stalemate and every cell in her body was screaming at her to take action, but she kept tamping down the instinct.  As the seconds dragged on, she was finding it harder to ignore the unease she felt at having someone listening in at her bedroom door. 

Finally tired of waiting, she dropped the hem of her nightgown and reached for the lock, but before she could turn it, a quiet knock sounded on the thick oak door.  Had she really heard it, or was her mind running wild with the flood of adrenaline coursing through her veins?  Mentally shaking her head, she decided it didn't matter as her fingers found the cool metal and twisted.  The door was well-oiled and didn't make a sound as she flung it open and twisted herself around to lay her knife along the throat of the person standing just beyond the threshold.

"Dammit, YN," a hoarse voice said as cold metal fingers wrapped around her wrist and effortlessly twisted her hand so that the knife was no longer pricking into his neck.

The metal fingers had given away his identity, but she'd known it was him before he'd grabbed her arm.  The current of air that had rushed past her when she'd flung open the door had carried a faint whiff of that intoxicating cologne, but she hadn't had time to stop the momentum of the hand holding the knife.  Grabbing his right arm with her free hand, she pulled him into her room and shut the door behind her before flipping the switch to turn on the light above her bed.

"What the hell are you doing, Barnes?" she hissed in a whisper once she was sure the door was firmly shut and locked again.  "I could have killed you, you know."

A smirk flitted across his face.  "You could've tried, doll."  The smirk faded as he gave her an appreciative glance.  "I'll admit, I'm impressed.  Not too many people are that quiet when they walk across a room, even barefooted."

"You heard me?" she asked in disbelief.

He pointed toward his ear with his right hand.  "Super soldier, remember?  I can hear as well as a dog."

"Is that the only characteristic you share with our mangy, flea-bitten friends?" She hadn't meant to say it, but sometimes she couldn't stop the snarky comments her brain came up with from flowing freely off her tongue.  She chalked it up to too many years of hanging around Nat and Tony.  With those two, you either learned to give as good as you got, or suffer the consequences.

He gave her a chastising look which drew her attention to the fact that she was wearing nothing but Ana's nightgown.  Glancing over her shoulder, she saw the thin robe that matched her borrowed sleepwear and quickly grabbed it off of the footboard of the bed and knotted the belt tightly around her waist.  "You didn't say why you're up creeping along the hallway in the middle of the night."

Bucky pursed his lips and looked toward the rumpled sheets behind her.  "I couldn't sleep.  What about you?"

"Honestly, I was sleeping just fine until I heard you," she answered, shocking herself when she realized that she had been sleeping peacefully – she couldn't even remember a single dream, so she must have been in a deep sleep state before Bucky had awoken her.  "Why can't you sleep?"

His eyes met hers and instantly she knew why he couldn't sleep.  She'd been stupid not to realize it sooner.  Of course he would be playing the night of December sixteenth over and over again in his mind as he lay in bed a few rooms away from Howard.  She'd spent a few minutes before she fell asleep trying to think of some way to alter the course of events without jeopardizing the future, but at this point, there was no way to know just how much of an impact they were already having on their personal timelines, or even the timeline of the world in general.

"Don't answer that," she finally said when the pain in eyes became too much for her to bear.  "I got a few good hours – I think – so I'll be fine for a while if you want to stay and talk."

Bucky let out a deep breath and glanced around the room, considering her offer.  He knew he didn't want to be alone right now, but he hated to impose upon her.  Normally he had Steve to help him through the worst nights, but he wasn't here right now.  Well, technically, he was just a few miles away, but that version of his best friend wouldn't be capable of understanding his torment. 

He looked back at YN and saw the questioning look on her face, and he knew that she was serious about her offer.  Steve had told him a lot about the group of friends he'd made once they'd unthawed him from the ice, and he'd seemed especially fond of the two S.H.I.E.L.D. agents that seemed to be joined at the hip.  Deciding to take a chance, he walked over to the small sitting area on the other side of the room and sank into one of the plush arm chairs facing the fireplace.

She hadn't really been expecting him to take her up on her offer, so she was shocked when he took a seat.  Not really knowing what else to do, she followed him and curled up on the matching chair opposite of him.  She racked her brain for topics of conversation that wouldn't trigger some sort of bad memory for him, but she came up blank.  Just when she was about to resort to discussing the weather, he began to speak.

"How does it work?"

Her eyebrows knitted in confusion and she began to shake her head.  "How does what work?"

"Magic," he answered, taking her aback with his reply.

She took a deep breath and looked up at the ceiling as she tried to remember the words the Ancient One had used to explain it to her all those years ago.  "Magic is simply harnessing the energy that's all around us and channeling it to fit the purpose we need it to serve.  There are actually three categories of magic.  There's personal energy which can allow someone to achieve astral projection or telekinesis, but it weakens you fairly quickly.  Strange was using his own personal energies to keep Mordo immobile and he overextended himself which gave Mordo the opportunity to break the Eye and, well. . .that's why we're in the mess we are right now."  She shook her head and continued.  "The most widely used magic is universal energy.  Basically, we were taught how to channel the energy of the world around us to create shields and weapons – you saw that with the sorcerers back at the Sanctum.  If you have a special device called a sling ring, you can use the universal energy to create a portal like the one Strange used to get us from the Compound to the Sanctum. . ."

"If you had one of those, could you create a portal back to our time?" Bucky asked, interrupting her.

She sadly shook her head.  "That's not the way it works.  If I had a sling ring, the most I could do is create a portal to the other side of the world.  The Eye is the only relic that can manipulate time."

"Okay," Bucky said, nodding his head in understanding.  "So, what's the third type of magic?"

"The third type is dimensional energy," she began to explain again.  "It's the most dangerous type since the other dimensions are occupied by some not-so-friendly beings, and most of them aren't so willing to allow you to 'borrow' their energy.  I'm still not sure how the Ancient One was able to draw power from the Dark Dimension to stay alive for so long without any consequences, but perhaps that's for the best.  We definitely don't need other sorcerers trying to follow in her footsteps – apparently the world almost ended the last time someone tried."

"So, can you still use magic?" Bucky asked, gesturing toward her hands.  "Can you create those orange sparks like the others?"

YN looked down at her hands as she turned them over in her lap.  It had been years since she'd attempted to conjure anything.  She'd sworn that she would never use magic again once she left Kamar-Taj, but for some reason, she wanted to show Bucky what she used to be able to do.  Lifting her hands, she closed her eyes and took a few slow, deep breaths to center her Chi.  Positioning her hands one on top of the other with her palms facing inward, she closed both hands into peaks with her fingertips just barely touching.  Drawing in a deep breath, she pulled her hands in opposite directions and her eyes flew open when she heard the sparks flying from her fingers.  With a laugh, she began to rotate her hands to create various geometric patterns, each new one surrounding the others until she had an elaborate kaleidoscope circling in the air in front of her.

"Amazing," Bucky said in awe as his eyes widened.

With a sigh of resignation, she clapped her hands together and the magic disappeared as quickly as it had been conjured.  "I've left that part of me in the past.  I'm a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent now – or at least I was before S.H.I.E.L.D. fell and the Accords tore what was left of us apart."

Bucky gave her a long look before dropping his head to stare at his mismatched hands.  "I understand wanting to leave your mistakes in the past, but they always have a way of creeping back up on you."

She started to correct him, but changed her mind.  Becoming a sorcerer had never been a mistake.  It just wasn't the path she was destined to follow, but he didn't really care about her reasons for leaving.  Instead, he was voicing his concerns about his own past and the torment he continued to endure because of it.  She debated letting the subject die, but he had asked about her past, so it was only fair that she got to ask about his.

"I've been told that you have issues with your memories," she began hesitantly.

His gaze slowly rose to hers and she could see the raw torment swimming in the blue-grey depths.  "Not anymore," he said with a sardonic laugh.  "King T'Challa's sister, Shuri, is a genius unlike any I've ever encountered in my unusually long life.  She and Wanda were able to unlock my mind to remove the trigger words HYDRA had buried there, but in doing so, they also unlocked a hundred years worth of memories."

"It's both a blessing and curse, isn't it?"

"That's the perfect way to describe it," he said, nodding in agreement.  "I can remember every detail of my life growing up with Steve, but I can also remember watching the life drain out of the eyes of every man and woman I killed as the Winter Soldier."

"That wasn't you," she quickly assured him as she leaned across the low table between them and grabbed his vibranium hand.  "All of the evil HYDRA put into you was wiped away, and whether or not Tony will ever admit it, he destroyed the only physical part of HYDRA that killed his parents.  This is a new arm, and a fresh start for you.  You get to decide how to use the power within you, and from what I've seen, you have a kind, sensitive soul and I'm positive you'll use your abilities for the good of mankind."

"I've been thinking about that," he admitted as he gave her hand a squeeze before letting it go.  "You mentioned once before that maybe we should stay in 1942. . ."

"And you shot down that idea as soon as I voiced it," she interrupted.

He held up a hand to concede her point.  "I know I did, but I've been thinking.  Maybe you should work on a way to get back home, but I think I should stay."

"Give me one good reason why?" she asked in exasperation. 

He didn't answer for a moment, and she knew that whatever he was going to say was something she wasn't going to want to hear.  She waited a few moments and was about to ask him again when his gaze settled on hers and a chill went down her spine.

"So I can kill myself before HYDRA has a chance to turn me into the Winter Soldier."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _Thank you for reading Part 8 of this story!  I hope you enjoyed it! So, that cliffhanger!! Were you shocked when he said that?? I know I was! That was one of those times that the story took a turn and ended up somewhere I hadn't intended to go, but once I saw where it was leading, I had to write it!! This definitely puts a new spin on things! How do you think the Reader is going to react to his new plan?  I look forward to your comments!_


	9. Chapter 9

"So you can do what?" she asked as she leaned forward in her chair again, not believing she had heard him correctly.

"Think about it for a second, YN," he said, trying to reason with her. "If I kill the 1942 version of myself, then HYDRA will never get a chance to experiment on me and create the Winter Soldier. Howard and Maria won't have to die."

She sat back and shook her head in disgust. "You really think you, James Buchanan Barnes, are that important?"

He had been expecting a myriad of reactions from her, but that wasn't one of them. Not sure where she was going, he waited for her to continue.

"I hate to be the one to break it to you, sweetheart, but you're nothing special." 

"I was the Winter Soldier." He knew he shouldn't sound proud of that fact, but he'd been HYDRA's pet assassin for over seventy years and she was blatantly dismissing that fact.

She cocked her head to the side as she started to nail in her point. "You were one of six, weren't you? Hell, how many soldiers from the 107th did Zola experiment on before Steve showed up and saved you? If it hadn't been you, it would've been someone else."

Realizing where she was going with this, he began to see her point, but he wasn't ready to give up yet. "You may be right, but the only reason they were able to create the Soldier was because I fell from the train and they were the ones to find me. Steve saved the 107th before Zola had a chance to finish his experiments. . ."

"You are the world's biggest idiot, aren't you?" she asked, completely exasperated with this conversation. "Let me go through each of the reasons why your plan has no chance of working."

He started to say something, but she held up her hand and the look in her eye had him thinking twice about speaking. For a second he remembered the magic she'd been able to conjure and he was a bit worried she'd turn it on him, if only to get him to shut up long enough for her to speak.

"Where to start? Let's just go chronological, shall we?" She took a deep breath and mentally outlined her main points before beginning. "The only reason Steve went to save the 107th from HYDRA was because your dumb ass got captured. If you're dead, then Steve might not go rogue and Zola will have had plenty of time to keep experimenting until he gets it right. Voila, the Winter Soldier is born."

Bucky bit his lip to keep himself from speaking, but he could already see where she was going, and as much as he hated to admit it, she was probably right. He wanted to tell her that, but she was on a roll, and she had a crazed look in her eye that he still wasn't sure he wanted to test just yet.

"Moving on. Let's say, for arguments sake, that Steve does go and save the 107th because he's Captain America and that idiot can't stop himself from looking for a fight. He saves the 107th, but he still ends up on the train and you're not there. Before you ask, he told me about that day and how you saved him, so what happens when you're not there? One scenario has him dangling from the edge of that train, and then guess what? Your best friend is captured by Zola and he becomes the Winter Soldier. I'd ask if you could live with yourself if that happened, but if you get your way, you'll kill yourself in 1942, thus wiping this version of yourself from existence so you won't care one way or the other."

Bucky's stomach turned over sourly as he realized that she was right – he hadn't been special, he'd just been in the wrong place at the wrong time. He thought about Steve being forced to endure the torture – being forced to kill innocent people year after year, decade after decade, andhe knew that YN was right. He was being selfish to think that by killing himself before HYDRA had a chance to turn him, he would be saving Howard and Maria from death. As much as he would like to ease his conscience, this burden was his to bear.

"No more," he said in a harsh whisper as he buried his face in his hands. "You're right. I was stupid to think I could change anything."

Hearing the dejected tone in his voice broke her heart. With a sigh she rose and went to crouch down in front of him. Placing her hands over his, she forced him to look at her. "It was a stupid idea, but it was also a noble one. This is what I'm talking about, Bucky. You're a good man, and it's because of that that you'll be able to move past this and learn to forgive yourself. Or you could adopt Nat's mindset and keep helping to save the world in order wipe the red from your ledger."

Bucky stared into her eyes and saw the raw honestly reflected in them. She truly did believe that he was worthy of redemption. He expected it from Steve, but to see it in someone else's eyes – someone who was practically a stranger to him – was unanticipated. Maybe it was time that he put his past behind him and focused on making the most of the life he still had left to live.

"Thank you, YN," he said finally, giving her hands a light squeeze.

She smiled as she dropped his hands and rose again. "Anytime, Barnes."

"Bucky," he corrected as he stood up beside her. "My name is Bucky."

She gave him a slight nod. "Bucky it is."

"I should probably try to get some sleep," he told her as he began making his way to the door. "We have a lot to do tomorrow."

"Do me a favor and try not to overthink things anymore," she said with a smirk. "I promise you'll sleep a whole lot better."

He gave her a cocky salute before slipping into the darkened hallway back to his room. "Yes, ma'am."

She shut the door behind him and flipped the lock before grabbing the knife from the end of the bed and sliding it back into its sheath beneath her pillow. Slipping beneath the covers, she lay on her side facing the door and started to do exactly what she'd warned him not to – overthink. Her mind refused to shut down so that she could fall asleep and she found herself absentmindedly rubbing her thumb over the pads of the other four fingers on her hand, small orange sparks flickering from the movement. She'd forgotten the rush that one got from using magic, and too late, she remembered why she'd sworn she'd never go down that path again. Balling her hand into a fist, she raised up and punched the pillow before falling back down onto the bed and willing her mind to finally let her sleep.

 

When she awoke for a second time, she immediately knew where she was, but it wasn't as reassuring as she'd hoped it would be. The world outside of her window was still dark, although the edges of the sky were just starting to lighten so she knew dawn wasn't too far off. Throwing back the covers, she grabbed the robe from the footboard and slipped it over her nightgown before heading toward the door. Ana had promised to leave her some more clothes on the small table outside her bedroom door, and sure enough, she found a small, neatly folded stack of garments waiting for her. On top of the flowery bundles she assumed were dresses, was her tactical gear and a handwritten note in a flourishing script.

_"I took the liberty of cleaning your gear in the hopes that you would join me and Edwin this morning." – Ana_

YN smiled as she walked back into her room and lay the pile of clothes on the end of the bed. Picking up the gear, she was amazed to see that it was spotlessly clean. She wasn't sure when electric washers and dryers had been invented, but obviously Howard had provided Ana with a set – it was the only explanation to how her clothes had been washed and dried overnight.

She sorted through the stack of dresses Ana had given her, and while they weren't something she would normally choose, they were much preferable to the skintight miniskirts she'd been forced to wear while she and Nat had been bartending in Prague. 

Walking over to the armoire in the corner, she found some empty hangers and hung up the dresses before turning back to the bed. Not one to leave a mess in someone else's home, she quickly straightened the sheets and comforter and placed the pillows in the exact spots they'd been in the night before. Satisfied with her work, she quickly changed into her gear and hung the nightgown and robe in the armoire beside her new dresses.

Slipping quietly into the hallway, she was shocked to find Bucky waiting outside his door. He too was dressed in the same clothes he'd been wearing yesterday, and just like hers, they were also freshly laundered.

"I heard you moving around and figured you'd gotten the same note from Ana that I did, so I decided to wait for you," he explained as they began making their way to the stairs.

"Do you think it's a good idea to train with two civilians?" she asked as they descended the stairs to the training room in the basement Howard had shown them the night before.

He gave a slight shake of his head. "I figured I would let you spar with Ana and Jarvis. I know you've trained with Steve, so you should be able to hold your own with me."

A devious grin spread across her face. "I think I can do more than hold my own."

"Doll."

"I think you're forgetting that I got the upper hand on you last night," she reminded him.

"Because I let you," he countered with a smirk of his own.

Her eyes grew wide with shock. "You what?"

The smirk on his face deepened, causing small lines to crinkle around the edges of his eyes. "I could've stopped you before you ever had a chance to raise that knife."

"Then why didn't you?" she asked, completely confused. "How did you know I wouldn't go straight for the kill."

"Because you weren't sure who was outside your room, and you wouldn't take the chance of accidentally killing one of our gracious hosts," he explained with a shrug.

She was momentarily taken aback. How did he know her so well already? They'd barely spoken more than a few sentences to one another before ending up in the mess they were in now. S.H.I.E.L.D. had taught her to stay elusive and not give the enemy any insight into her motives and character. Somehow he'd broken past all of her walls in less than a day, and she was reeling a bit from how intuitive he seemed to be. She'd definitely underestimated him, but she wouldn't make that mistake again.

"Touché," she finally answered as they walked through the door of the training room.

Ana and Jarvis were already there and from the thin sheen of sweat glistening each of their brows, it appeared that they'd been at it for quite some time. YN noticed Ana wearing what appeared to be an old pair of her husband's trousers that she'd cinched with a belt to help them stay on her small frame, and YN was instantly charmed. They were the most adorable couple she'd ever met before and she wasn't at all surprised that she'd fallen in love with them already.

"Oh, I'm so glad you're going to join us," Ana exclaimed as she hurried over and grabbed YN's hand. "Poor Edwin is already winded, but I'm nowhere near ready to stop."

She didn't give YN any time to prepare before she came at her with a wide, swooping roundhouse kick. If it hadn't been for her training, she would've wound up flat on her back from the blow, but instinct kicked in and she effortlessly blocked the kick and countered with a backhanded blow that Ana quickly evaded. Taking a step back, she had to admit that she was impressed with the tiny woman. She was both ferocious and well-trained, and YN had a feeling she would enjoy this training session immensely.

Ana wasn't exactly a S.H.I.E.L.D. trained operative, but she was skilled enough to keep YN on her toes. Jarvis called out suggestions to Ana from the sidelines, but Bucky stood silent and merely observed her and Ana sparring. 

"Edwin, my dear," Ana said at one point. "I realize that your intentions are well-meaning, but you're helping YN more than you're helping me. Now shush."

Even Bucky couldn't hide his amusement as Jarvis puffed out his chest and let out a huff of indignation. YN gave him a smile and focused her attention back on her training partner. 

Once Ana had tired out, Jarvis asked if YN would mind going a round or two with him. She gave Bucky a questioning look to see if he wanted to join in, but he shook his head and motioned for her to continue. She had a sneaky suspicion that he was hoping she would be too tired to spar with him, but he had no idea how grueling Nat could be during training. Sparring with Ana and Jarvis was nothing more than a warmup for her.

Sparring with Ana had given her a small sense of déjà vu, but it wasn't until she was in deep with Jarvis that she realized why. It had only taken her a few minutes to realize that she knew all of his moves and could accurately predict what he would do next. She shot a quick glance in Bucky's direction to see if he'd picked up on it as well, and the look on his face told her he'd also noticed. Unsure if it was because she wasn't ready for the reminder, or if she was just anxious to finally go up against the infamous Winter Soldier, she made quick work of Jarvis and had him flat on his back in less than five minutes.

As Ana helped him back to his feet, she walked over to where Bucky stood next to a small cart with a water pitcher and glasses. Pouring herself a glass, she drank deeply while Bucky gave her a steely glare.

"Cheater," he whispered.

A self-satisfied smirk turned up the corners of her lips as she continued to drink her water. "It's not my fault Tony learned everything he knows from Jarvis. You've fought Tony before, so I know you saw it too."

"I think it took me a little longer to realize it than you, but yeah, Jarvis is the one who trained Stark," he admitted. "Still doesn't excuse the fact that you unfairly used that to your advantage."

"Maybe I was just tired of the opening acts and was eager to get to the main event."

He gave her a long look. "You really want to fight me that badly?"

"I've been training with Nat exclusively for a year now," she explained as she put down the glass and walked backwards onto the mat in the middle of the floor. "You've been up against her, what, two or three times? You know what's she's like. I guess you could say the bar's been set pretty high and I need someone who can keep make me work for it."

She watched as something she said caused Bucky's eyes to momentarily cloud over. She narrowed her eyes and cocked her head to the side. Had she struck a nerve somehow? Surely he still wasn't feeling guilty for shooting Nat. . .twice. Nat had made it a point to let him know in the cab ride to the airport in Prague that she held no hard feelings toward him. Looking back on it now, she remembered a moment of awkwardness, but she'd assumed that it was to be expected when someone was telling another person they were forgiven for trying to kill them, but now she wasn't so sure.

She waited for Bucky to join her before she planted her feet and readied herself for the coming attack. Bucky walked around the perimeter of the mat as he silently appraised her. For some odd reason, she felt like he was almost hunting her – looking for the right moment to pounce. She'd seen him in action before, both as the Soldier and as Bucky. The Soldier was lethal and deadly, but Bucky had more finesse when he fought. Now that he had access to all of his memories, she wondered if he would blend the two fighting styles or if he'd left the Soldier behind when Shuri had removed the trigger words.

She didn't have to wait long to find out. After one circle around her, he came at her with a quick right-handed jab. She easily dodged it and crouched down to sweep his legs out from under him. With ease, he slid out of the way of her leg and reached down to grab one of hers, lifting her up off the ground. She used the momentum he created to reach up and grab ahold of his shoulders as she twisted her body to wrap her other leg around his throat.

He was prepared for her move, though and before she could react, he'd leaned forward and threw her off of him and back onto the mat. She tucked her head and turned the fall into a roll, twisting at the end to get her feet back under her. He wasted no time coming at her again, but by this point in the fight, she was relegated to playing defense while he held onto the upper hand throughout the rest of the match. Every time she thought she had an opening to take control, he seemed ready for her attack and was able to evade every kick and punch she aimed at him.

Finally exhausted, she tapped the mat to signal the end of the fight as she struggled to force herself into a sitting position after he'd knocked her flat on her back yet again. She knew she shouldn't be angry at him for giving her exactly what she'd asked for, but what she was feeling wasn't exactly anger. She took a few deep breaths as she struggled to come to terms with the emotion she was feeling. After a few moments, she realized that it was confusion. How had he been able to predict every move she made?

Looking up at him with wary eyes, she saw guilt swimming in his. Her mouth fell open as she tried to understand this new development, but before she could speak, he'd turned and started back toward the steps leading upstairs.

Jumping to her feet, she rushed down the hallway to stop him. Grabbing his vibranium arm, she pulled until he turned to look at her. "What was that back there? How in the world. . .? I know you've fought Nat a few times, but there's no way you could've picked up on all of her moves."

He let out a deep breath and ran his right hand through his hair. "You'll find out eventually, although I'm surprised you don't already know." He paused to give her a sympathetic look. "I know all of Nat's moves – all of your moves – because I was the one who trained Natalia in the Red Room."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _Thank you for reading Part 9 of this story! I hope you enjoyed it!   Bucky may have gotten the upper hand at the end, but she sure threw him for a loop at the beginning! We all know the best way to motivate Bucky is to bring Steve into the equation! The thought of Steve becoming the Winter Soldier was almost too much for Bucky to bear, don’t you think? As for the ending, it was another one of those epiphanies that I hadn’t planned on! I love the comic book version of Bucky and Nat, although I won’t be exploring the romance side of their relationship in this story - that would just be too messy to deal with on top of all the other drama! How do you think the Reader is going to react to this new development? Do you think she’ll be mad at Nat for not telling her? I look forward to your comments!_


	10. Chapter 10

YN felt like the world had been ripped out from beneath her feet.  Dropping her hand, she let him turn and walk away from her.  Why hadn't Nat ever told her that Bucky had been the one to train her in the Red Room?  In her defense, Nat really didn't talk much about her past.  

She started slowly following in Bucky's footsteps up the stairs to grab a shower before breakfast when another thought had her stopping in her tracks.  Did Steve know about this?  Nat may not have told her or Steve, but surely Bucky had told his best friend.  YN knew it shouldn't matter, but it was still a shock, and something she would have to discuss with Nat once they made it back to the twenty-first century – if they ever made it back.

As she stood under the warm spray of the shower, her mind kept going back to what she'd learned about Bucky and Nat, but the more she thought about it, the more she realized that she had no reason to be upset.  She'd kept a huge secret from all of her friends, so it was only fair that Nat had kept this from her.  It didn't mean she was going to let the matter drop – she still wanted to know more about Nat's past in the Red Room, but she wouldn't pry if the former assassin didn't want to share.

She had been a bit skeptical of the shower off of her bedroom the night before since it was the early twentieth century, but Howard had made sure everything in his house was top of the line for the times.  The water pressure was absolutely perfect, and there never seemed to be an end to the hot water supply.  It was because of this that YN didn't want to leave the steamy confines of her watery oasis, but she knew Ana would have an amazing breakfast ready for them shortly and that was something she didn't want to miss.  

Taking a few more minutes to let the pressure of the water soothe her aching muscles, she contemplated how she would handle this situation with Bucky.  He'd seemed to think that his admission would be a deterrent for her, but the more she thought about it, the more she realized that this was actually a benefit to the team.  She and Nat already worked so well because they trained together and had adopted one another's style – her more so than Nat.  Now they could add Bucky into the mix and the three of them would be able to read one another's movements in the heat of the battle and that was a huge disadvantage to the enemy.  

Finally turning the knobs to shut off the water, she stepped onto the mat beside the tub and grabbed one of the plush, white towels from the rack.  Wrapping it around herself, she walked back into the bedroom to decide which outfit she wanted to wear that day.  She ended up choosing a mint green dress with red buttons from the neck down to where the hem fell just below her knees.  It had a white collar and embroidered cherries over each breast which made her frown a bit.  The sleeves were entirely too puffy for her taste and to add insult to injury, it had two strips of fabric for her to tie a bow in the back.  The only saving grace were the pockets – not that she had anything to put in them right now – but they made her feel a little better about the silly looking getup.

She eyed the row of shoes that had magically appeared in the bottom of the armoire since she'd put the dresses away that morning.  She was pretty sure someone had placed an order early that morning and had the them delivered as soon as the stores opened.  Eyeing the row of shiny patent leather pumps, she pulled out the ones with the ankle straps and sat down to try them on.  Surprised that they fit, and weren't as uncomfortable as they looked, she walked over to the full-length mirror in the corner.  Twisting and turning, she smiled as she realized she looked pretty cute.

When she opened her bedroom door, the smell of breakfast wafting up the stairs had her mouth watering.  She'd worked up more of an appetite than she'd realized as her stomach began to growl in anticipation of more of Ana's cooking.  Mindful of the heels, she carefully made her way down the stairs and back toward the kitchen they'd eaten in the night before.

Just as she'd assumed, Ana was standing in front of the stove, an apron covering a dress that was almost identical in style to the one she wore.  She smiled at YN over her shoulder and motioned for her to take a seat at the table in the corner.  YN smiled back and started to walk toward the table, but drew up short when she spotted Bucky already sitting there.

If it weren't for the metal hand peeking out from the cuff of his shirt, she might not have recognized him at all.  He'd pulled his still-wet hair into a bun at the nape of his neck, and when he turned to look at her, she could almost imagine what he would've looked like before his hair had grown out.  He was wearing a button down shirt and pleated slacks with stiff creases down the center like Howard had been wearing the night before.  Bucky had added a tie to the ensemble, which gave him a more serious air that, surprisingly enough, was a bit intimidating.

"What's with the tie?" she asked as she took a seat opposite him.

He looked down at his shirt in confusion.  "What do you mean?  This is style right now."

"We're sitting at the kitchen table about to eat breakfast, not at the Ritz-Carlton," she teased with a slight tilt to her lips.

"You're one to talk," he snarked right back.  "When was the last time you wore a pair of high heels to breakfast?"

She looked down at her shoes abashedly.  "Touché."

"Stop bickering like an old married couple," Ana scolded with a laugh as she sat down two heaping plates of food before them.  "Eat your breakfast before it gets cold, and be nice."

She and Bucky shared a look once Ana had turned her back, and she was pleased to see a sparkle in his eye.  She missed Nat's sarcastic wit, so it was nice to trade barbs with someone who could take a little ribbing before his morning cup of coffee.  He gave her a wink and then focused his attention on the food before him.  

She also began to eat, but she didn't look away as quickly as he had.  Giving him a more thorough once over, she realized that he cleaned up nicely.  The only thing she'd ever really seen him wear was tactical gear, and he usually had some form of assault rifle cradled in his arms, so it was hard to get a feel of who he really was.  Now that she was seeing him as he once was, or at least a semblance of the man he used to be, she could begin to imagine how the women of this day and age had viewed him.  With his hair slicked back, the razor sharp edges of his jaw and cheekbones were more prominent, and his steely blue eyes were almost hypnotic.

"Are you going to keep staring at me, or are you going to eat?" he asked between bites, not even bothering to look up.

She gave him a dirty look which he failed to notice since his attention never wavered from his plate.  "I seem to recall you staring at me on the plane back to New York – while I was asleep, I might add."  

He looked up and met her gaze, one shoulder lifting slightly in an absentminded shrug.  She waited for him to respond, but he just kept eating, his eyes never leaving hers.  She took a bite of her food and then pointed her fork at him.  "You do realize that it's creepy to watch someone sleep, don't you?"

"You do realize it's rude to stare at someone when they're eating, don't you?" he fired right back.

The sound of someone clearing their throat drew their attention away from one another and toward the door of the kitchen where Jarvis stood looking appalled at their silly argument.  She shot a quick glance in Bucky's direction and was pleased to see that he looked as guilty as she felt.

Jarvis shook his head and then straightened his back with an air of authority before he began to speak.  "Mr. Stark has informed me that you will be going on an undercover mission this evening, Ms. YLN.  I'm to believe that the gentleman you are supposed to make contact with frequents the dance halls, but that you don't know how to dance."

"I don't see what that has to do with anything?" Bucky said with a confused look on his face.  "All she has to do is walk in, talk to Steve for a few minutes, and then walk back out.  She shouldn't have to dance at all."

YN and Ana shared a look and both women shook their heads at Bucky's complete lack of understanding.  She wanted to explain to Bucky that one short conversation in a crowded dance hall probably wouldn't make that much of an impression on Steve, let alone be something he would remember seventy-six years later.  She held her tongue, though, since Jarvis and Ana didn't know the whole story about their reasons for seeking out Howard's help.

"That may be so," Jarvis said, oblivious to the ladies' silent conversation, "but one can always benefit from knowing how to dance."  He paused for a moment to give Bucky an appraising look.  "Do you dance, Sergeant Barnes?"

A look passed over Bucky's face that YN couldn't place, but she could feel the atmosphere change in an instant.  She knew from conversations with Steve that Bucky used to love to go dancing, hence the reason they were certain they'd find Steve in a dance hall tonight.  It must be hard for him to be constantly reminded of the man he used to be - the man HYDRA had tortured and brainwashed to the point that he couldn't even remember his own name.

"Sergeant Barnes won't be going on this mission tonight," YN said, saving Bucky from having to answer.  "And anyway, I think Howard wanted to get a look at his arm this morning."

"That is an interesting prosthetic," Jarvis said as his gaze focused on the gold-lined vibranium appendage.  "What kind of metal did you say that was again?"

"I didn't," Bucky said abruptly as he rose from the table and started for the door.  He paused for a moment before turning back to Ana.  "That was a wonderful meal, ma'am.  Thank you."

YN watched him stalk away from them for the second time that morning, and she tried to give him the benefit of the doubt.  This situation was more stressful for him considering the future that awaited their host, but she was really getting tired of him walking away from her like that.  Deciding that she'd deal with him later, she turned to Jarvis with a smile and motioned for him to lead the way to the parlor where he'd set up the record player.

 

Ana turned out to be a better teacher than Jarvis, and within an hour, she'd learned the steps to at least a dozen different dances.  There really wasn't much to it – basically all she had to do was let Ana swing her around the room and pay attention to which way Ana was planning to turn her.  Once she'd gotten the hang of it, she realized why everyone in this era spent so much time in the dance halls.  It was easy to get lost in the music and the steps weren't as precise as ballroom dancing, so it was easier to improvise and have fun.

"Looking good ladies," Howard said from the doorway as he and Bucky walked into the parlor.  

YN was a bit out of breath, but she managed to give Howard a smile before reaching for a glass of water on the sideboard.  Bucky looked like his mood was just as sour as it had been when he'd left the kitchen.  She figured spending an hour with Howard had been hard on his nerves, but if he hadn't been such a jerk to Jarvis, she would have suggested he wait and she could have accompanied him later that morning to serve as a buffer.  

"Thank you," she finally said once she'd caught her breath.  "I never realized how much fun this could be."

"You up for some more?" Howard asked as he extended a hand in her direction.  "It's been a while since I've led a dame around the dance floor, but I think I've still got it."

A melancholy feeling settled over YN for a moment, but it didn't hurt as much to look at Howard and see traces of Tony in him.  She wasn't exactly glad that she and Bucky had been zapped back in time, but it was doing her a world of good when it came to finally getting over her infatuation with the younger Stark.

Taking Howard's hand, she let him twirl her into his arms as Jarvis reset the record player.  He was an excellent dancer and YN was having a great time, but she could feel Bucky's gaze boring into her back the entire time.  She tried to catch a glimpse of his face, but Howard was spinning her around too fast for her to get a good look.  From what she could tell, his expression was eerily similar to the one the Soldier wore when he was on the hunt.

When the song was over, she thanked Howard, but her attention was focused on Bucky.  "Did you want to try?"

The grim line of his mouth softened a bit at her question, but he gave her a curt shake of his head, turned around, and walked out of the room.  A surge of anger coursed through her.  His annoying habit of getting in the last word by simply leaving a room was really starting to irk her in ways she couldn't describe.  If he did it to her again, she wasn't sure what she would do, but it wouldn't end well for him.

 

Bucky had sequestered himself in his room for the rest of the day, so YN had spent her time getting to know Ana and Jarvis a little bit better.  The more she talked to them, the more she admired them.  They had a love that she'd always dreamt of for herself, but had never been able to find back in the twenty-first century.  Being around them gave her hope that someday she'd meet someone that looked at her the way Jarvis looked at Ana.

When dinner time had rolled around, Bucky finally joined them again, and his attitude seemed to be much improved.  YN wanted to get a few digs in, but she squelched the impulse and went out of her way to be nice to him.

"When are you leaving?" Bucky asked her as he sat down at the table and began to eat.

"Jarvis is going to drive me around Brooklyn right after we finish dinner," she told him in between bites.  "Any idea which dance hall Steve will be at tonight?"

Bucky tried to remember where he and Steve had spent the nights leading up to getting his orders for the 107th.  "Try the Onxy Club, Three Deuces, and the Rainbow Room."

The conversation shifted to talk of the three dance halls.  Jarvis had taken Ana to the Onxy Club a few times since they'd been in New York, but Howard had spent most of his nights at the Stork or Copacabana where the elite members of society patronized.  The mood was light and the five of them spent the rest of dinner discussing the latest society scandals and the news from Europe.

"You know Steve better than anyone," she said once they'd finished dinner and Bucky had walked her to the foyer to wait as Jarvis brought the car around.  "What do I need to say to him to get him to take me seriously?"

"Just be as honest with him as you can," Bucky told her as he laid a hand on her shoulder.  "I know you've seen pictures, but I don't think you're fully prepared to see him before the serum.  Trust me when I say, he'll remember a pretty dame that takes the time to talk to him.  I can't tell you exactly what to say to get him to figure out that he needs to come back here and save our sorry. . ."

"I get it," she interrupted, giving him an eye roll as Jarvis came up the steps to escort her to the car.  "I'll figure something out."

 

She and Jarvis tried the Onxy Club first, but after twenty minutes of scanning the crowd, she knew they were in the wrong place.  The Rainbow Room was down the street a few blocks, so she tried that establishment next, with no luck.  Three Deuces wasn't as crowded as the first two clubs, so it only took her a few minutes to spot Steve sitting in a booth by himself nursing what looked like a glass of water.

Bucky had been right about her not being prepared to see him like he was before he met Dr. Erskine.  Somehow he seemed even smaller than the photographs in the Smithsonian, not to mention even frailer than she'd imagined.  Her heart went out to him, and she instantly hated every woman in this club that could dare to overlook the amazing man that sat amongst them feeling lost and alone.  If they only knew how wonderful he was, they'd be crawling over one another to be the first in line for a dance with him.

When her shadow fell across his drink, he looked up with a sad smile.  "Did you need this table, ma'am?  I can move if you'd like."

Her anger sparked and she realized too late that he thought her ire was directed at him.  "Please forgive me, I'm not angry with you."

His brow furrowed and for a split second, she saw the man she would call a friend in about seventy years.  She wasn't sure if it was the apology or the fact that she'd bothered to speak to him at all that had him so confused, but either way, she was ready to kill every single person in the club.

"Can I help you, ma'am?" he asked, completely confused as to why such a beautiful dame was wasting her time talking to him.

A huge smile spread across her face.  "As a matter of fact, you're the only person that can help me right now.  I need you to do me a fav. . ."

She stopped mid-sentence as she sensed someone walking up behind her.  A familiar hand settled at the small of her back, and as she took a breath to speak, she caught a whiff of a familiar scent.  Surely Bucky wasn't stupid enough to follow her here, she thought to herself as she turned her head to confront him.  It was Bucky, alright, but it wasn't her Bucky.  This Bucky was clean shaven, with short, slicked back hair, and a smile that could stop a woman's heart.  His eyes were alight with mischief as he silently appraised her, and she found herself suddenly speechless under the full force of his charm.

"Hello, doll."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _Thank you for reading Part 10 of this story! I hope you enjoyed it!   Did you enjoy the bickering between the Reader and Bucky? His mood is getting more and more sullen the longer he spends in 1942 and the Reader has just about had enough of his moody behavior. We finally got to meet our Brooklyn boys! What did you think of Steve? Isn’t he just the sweetest. . .and the saddest!?! Things didn’t go exactly as planned for her, though. She didn’t really factor in an encounter with Bucky! How do you think she’s going to handle this version of him??  I look forward to your comments!_


	11. Chapter 11

YN tried to speak, but she couldn't get her lips to form the words she knew she needed to say. She'd thought she'd been prepared to handle him, but just like she'd been shocked by Steve, this version of Bucky was so much _more_ than she'd initially planned for. How had the women in this day and age handled the waves of charisma and charm oozing off of him?

Bucky started to say something to Steve, but just then the band started playing a new tune. He turned and looked over his shoulder and then quickly turned back to her as his hand moved from the small of her back to grasp hers. "C'mon, doll, this is my favorite song."

The intensity of his smile had been magnified by the song that was playing and she found herself being pulled onto the dance floor. It was an odd sensation to feel two warm hands against her own, and for a moment she missed the cool vibranium hand she'd grown used to in such a short amount of time. This small inconsistency was enough to pull her out of her stupor and in one rush of adrenaline, she finally felt in control of herself.

"I didn't say I wanted to dance with you," she curtly informed him as he continued to twirl her around the dance floor.

"No, you didn't," he agreed with a wink. "But you were about to give poor Stevie an asthma attack over there. I had to save my best friend from an untimely death, now didn't I?"

YN looked over her shoulder to see Steve hunched over his glass of water again. Occasionally, he'd glance their way, but for the most part, he seemed to be trying to blend into the background as much as possible. That definitely wasn't the Steve Rogers she'd come to know in the past few years. 

"Well, maybe if you didn't barge in and interrupt people when they're trying to have a conversation with him, he wouldn't have that kind of reaction," she said, her tone a little bit snippy.

Bucky spun her into a corner of the dance floor opposite from where Steve was sitting and narrowed his eyes at her. "Why are you so interested in Steve? A pretty dame like you should have a hoard of good looking guys waiting in line for a dance with you."

"First of all," she shot back, her finger poking into his chest with every word she spoke. "I'm not a dame, or your doll. You may refer to me as either a woman, or a lady, but I won't put up with any derogatory terms from you."

His initial look of shock turned sultry as he silently appraised her. He had to admit she had spunk. "You're not like other girls are you?"

"And what is that supposed to mean?" she huffed indignantly. "Why do men always think that's some kind of compliment? I have a personality like any other human being on the planet. How would you feel if I told you were just as big of a jerk as every other guy I'd ever met?"

"Ouch," he exclaimed, holding a hand over his heart. "You can't go lumping all of us guys together like that. . ."

"That's my point," she interrupted with a satisfied smile. "Men always stereotype women and then seemed shocked when we don't fit into the mold they've created for us, but God forbid we do the same to you."

He paused for a moment to consider her words. "Touché." He looked at her long and hard. "So, you really did want to talk to Steve? You weren't just using him as a way to get to me?"

A look of utter disbelief came over her face as she began to shake her head. "You've got to be kidding me. Please tell me women don't actually do that? I may have to kill half of the female population of Brooklyn before I leave."

Bucky took a step back to think for a moment. This woman was unlike any other he'd ever met before, but somehow he wasn't put off by her brash attitude and sharp tongue. He was insanely attracted to her, but she seemed to only have eyes for Steve. What were the odds of that ever happening?

"Unfortunately, they do," he finally answered before taking a deep breath. "If you want to talk to Steve, I'll help you out."

"I truly doubt Steve Rogers needs your help to talk to a woman," she told him as she thought of the easy way in which she and Nat teased and joked with him. "And I definitely don't need your help. I'm not interested in him in the way you're implying. I just need his help on a sensitive matter. . ."

"I can help you with anything you need," he interrupted, trying to charm her again. If she wasn't interested in Steve romantically, then maybe he still stood a chance with her.

She gave him a sad look as she thought about the broken man waiting for her back at Howard's house. Laying a hand on his left arm, she told him, "I'm sorry, Bucky, but you are literally the last person on earth that can help me with this problem."

She started to walk away from him, but something she'd said was off. Reaching out, he grabbed her hand and spun her back around. "Wait a second. I didn't tell you my name."

Realizing her mistake, she plastered a smile on her face and turned around to face him again. "Seriously? I didn't think there was a single woman in all of Brooklyn that didn't know Bucky Barnes."

The suspicious look in his eyes faded quickly and was replaced with a smug smile. "Well, it seems like you have the advantage over me, dol. . ."

Her eyebrows rose when the familiar pet name started to roll off of his lips, but he caught himself just in time. Failing to keep the smirk off her face, she turned away from him again and started back across the room toward Steve. "See? Old dogs can be taught new tricks."

"Man, he really did a number on you," Bucky said to her retreating back, unable to help himself.

She froze. It rankled her that men automatically assumed her assertive attitude was due to some guy breaking her heart, but right now it really stung because Bucky wasn't too far off the mark. She wanted to pretend that she didn't know why she'd been so snarky with him, but she knew. She'd known it from the first moment he'd spoken to her. That cocky charisma, that sultry smile, and that sexy swagger – those were all reminders of the man who had been tacitly rejecting her for years, and her defenses had automatically went up the second he'd pulled her into his arms. 

He didn't deserve the way she'd treated him, and in fact, he'd gone out of his way to try to help her and Steve. She felt like a fool for being so horrible, but she wasn't sure what she could do to make amends. Thinking that being honest with him, or as honest as she could be, would be a good first step.

"I apologize," she told him, putting all the sincerity she could muster into her words.

He eyed her skeptically. Gone was the snarky attitude from earlier, but he was still suspicious. What had made her change so quickly? He must have struck a nerve when he mentioned the man that had broken her heart. Someone as beautiful as her should never be forced to suffer heartache. Deciding that she did need his help, just not with whatever problem she'd gone to Steve with, he reached out a hand and eyed her questioningly.

"What?" she asked, looking down at his hand like it was a snake.

"Let's start over, shall we?" he replied with a charming smile that had her breath catching in her throat. "I'm Bucky, and I would love the honor of dancing with you this evening."

_Dear Lord, he could switch the charm on and off like a light switch_ , she thought. She remembered how much fun she'd had dancing with everyone back at Howard's house and how she'd asked Bucky to dance with her. That version of him had refused, but this one seemed thrilled by the idea of holding her in his arms. The few minutes she'd spent dancing with him earlier had been enjoyable, but she'd been to angry to fully appreciate it. Still. . .

"I'm afraid I'll have to decline," she said with a sad smile. "I really need to talk to Steve. Alone."

His smile faltered a bit as he looked over her shoulder at his friend sitting by himself again. Bucky felt guilty for denying Steve the opportunity to talk to this mysterious woman, but maybe she had a friend she could bring along with her next time. As much as he loved Steve, he felt like if he let this woman out of his sight tonight, he'd regret it for the rest of his life.

"Can't it wait?" he pleaded, as he gave her the most pathetic look he could muster. "It's not a matter of life and death, now is it?"

She wasn't normally one to be affected by puppy-dog eyes, but there was something about the way he was looking at her that pulled at her heart strings. She knew what was about to happen to him in a few years, and a part of her wanted to let him experience as much happiness as he possibly could before HYDRA got their claws into him. Glancing over her shoulder at Steve, she realized that it didn't matter if she spoke to him tonight or tomorrow night as long as she was able to get the message across to him that he needed to remember her. What better way to make an impression than to have Bucky talking about her all night to Steve once they left the club?

"I guess it could wait a little longer," she finally said, earning her another one of the heart-stopping smiles.

Before she had a chance to say another word, he'd grabbed her hand and pulled her back onto the dance floor. She'd had fun that morning, but it was nothing compared to dancing with Bucky.

"You never did tell me your name, dol. . ." Bucky began, stopping himself from calling her "doll" yet again. 

She had to give him credit for trying – "doll" was a term of endearment he would still be using eighty years later. He was making an effort for her, and that meant something, didn't it? Shaking her head, she pushed the thoughts away and answered him. "YN YLN."

"That's a beautiful name," he told her as the band began to play a slow song. He pulled her closer to him as one hand held her firmly against him and the other held onto her hand.

Twisting and twirling around the dance floor had taken the breath away from her due to the fast pace. Being this close to him had the same effect, but for different reasons. His body was leaner than she was used to – long lines and lithe muscles – but he still exuded an aura of strength that she'd always looked for in a man. He was an excellent dancer and led in such a way that even someone as inexperienced as her could follow along with no problem.

After a few moments, his left hand tightened against her back, drawing her even closer to him as his right hand guided hers to his shoulder. Trailing a finger along the bare skin of her arm as his hand moved to join his other one on her back had her nerve endings sending shocks of pleasure straight through her. She had to give him credit – he knew exactly what he was doing and had no qualms about seducing her in the middle of a crowded dance floor.

As they swayed to the lilting melody the band played, she watched as his bright blue-grey eyes darkened with desire, and she knew that hers were a mirror of his. She was playing a dangerous game right now, but her baser needs were slowly overtaking the rational side of her as she continued to allow him to weave his web of seduction.

When one hand lazily slid up along her ribs to cup her jaw, she offered no protest, but instead gave into the desire to thread her fingers through his soft, brown hair. His lips were gentle as they brushed against hers, and a little voice inside of her screamed that this was wrong, but she quickly quieted it as she allowed herself to get lost in the kiss.

He was aware of their surroundings and knew what would be overlooked by the crowd around them and what would warrant censure. He did his best to keep things as chaste as he could, but her mouth was hot and demanding and he was struggling to stay in control as the taste and feel of her overwhelmed his senses.

The song ended and the band began to play a livelier tune. The couples around them began twisting and twirling again, so when someone accidentally bumped into them, they broke apart in surprise. He loved the faraway look in her eyes that spoke volumes about how much his kiss had affected her, and he knew he'd do whatever it took to get her back in his arms again.

"I'm sorry," she whispered, but she really wasn't sure what she was apologizing for.  She had enjoyed the kiss – probably a little too much.  There was a part of her that felt guilty for kissing him, but only because she realized that it wasn’t really fair to the version of him waiting for her across town. This version of Bucky was exactly what she looked for in a guy, but she knew it was foolhardy to travel down this path.  Disturbed by her own feelings, she backed away hastily and quickly lost herself in the crowd.

She could hear him calling out for her, but her emotions were raw, causing her to feel both confused and exposed. Spotting Jarvis leaning against the bar, she grabbed his arm and pulled him toward the door. "We need to leave. Now."

Thankfully, he didn't argue as he rushed ahead of her and grabbed the door. The night air was cool against her feverish skin and she took deep gulps to help clear her thoughts. She still held Jarvis' hand, so he was able to lead her to where he'd parked the car.

Collapsing into the passenger seat, she leaned her head against the window and tried to come to terms with what had just happened back in the club. It had been a simple mission – get in, find Steve, give him her message, and then get out. She'd known Bucky was going to be there, but she'd assumed he'd be too busy on the dance floor with some floozy to pay any attention to her. Steve had told her stories about his best friend, but after meeting Bucky in Germany a year ago, she'd assumed Steve had just been embellishing his memories of him. Boy was she wrong. Steve's descriptions of Bucky had been vastly underrated, and somehow she'd ended up being the floozy on the dance floor with him.

"Are you okay, Ms. YLN?" Jarvis asked once they were on their way back to Howard's house.

"I'm fine, Jarvis," she said, hoping the lie sounded more convincing to him than it did to her own ears.

His lips formed a tight line which told her that she'd failed – yet again. He shot her a quick glance and opened his mouth to say something before snapping it closed again. He focused his attention on the road, but after a few moments, he finally allowed himself to speak the question that was plaguing him.

"That man you were dancing with," he began hesitantly. "I'm assuming it's no coincidence that he bears a striking resemblance to Sergeant Barnes?"

She let out a long breath as she considered what to tell him. Deciding that tonight couldn't get any worse, she went with the truth. "Would you believe me if I told you that Sergeant Barnes and I are from the future, we're trapped in 1942, and his friend Steve is the only person that can help us get back to our own time?"

His eyes grew large as he stared at her. A car honked its horn when Jarvis accidentally swerved into his lane and he jerked the wheel to correct his mistake. He stared intently at the road ahead of him for a moment before finally answering her. "A few years ago, I would have assumed you were suffering from a mental affliction, but after some of the things I've witnessed since becoming acquainted with Mr. Stark, I find myself believing every word you just said."

"Will you tell Ana?" she asked. She wasn't worried that Ana wouldn't believe them, she just wanted to make sure that everyone was on the same page. It would be easier if they didn't have to keep secrets any longer.

"I tell Ana everything, Ms. YLN," Jarvis answered.

She nodded her head as he pulled up in front of Howard's house. "Good."

Jarvis let her out at the front door before driving around the corner to the garage in the back. She took another deep breath and squared her shoulders. She couldn't afford to let anyone else see how frazzled she was by her encounter with the younger Bucky. Howard had given her a key before she left, so she didn't have to wait for Ana to let her in and for that, she was grateful. All she wanted to do was go straight to her room and take a long shower to clear her head.

The foyer was empty when she came in, but she wasn’t taking any chances. Rising to her tiptoes to keep the heels of her shoes from clacking against the hardwood floors, she began quietly sneaking up the stairs to her bedroom.  The hallway was just as empty as the front entryway had been, so by the time she made it to her door, she was able to breath a sigh of relief.

As soon as she closed the door of her bedroom behind her, she collapsed against its hard surface and closed her eyes. She would allow herself one more moment to relive the kiss before she pushed it to the back of her mind, never to be thought of again. She could feel her heart begin to pound in her chest as she remembered the way his fingers had dug into her flesh and the way his lips had felt against her own. Reaching up, she trailed a finger over her lips, sure that they would somehow feel different to her.

A sudden feeling of unease hit her, and her eyes shot open as she dropped her hand. The room was pitch black dark, so it was hard to scan her surroundings to see what had triggered her. The curtains weren't completely closed across the window on the far side of the room so a sliver of moonlight shone through. She followed the trail of light to where it glinted off the fingers of metal hand. The rest of the arm and body of the man it belonged to was hidden by the tall back of the wingback chair, but there was no mistaking who was waiting for her.

He slowly rose and as he did, the moonlight briefly highlighted his face for her to see. There was no hiding the anger set deep into his features, and with a surge of panic, she realized her mistake.

"Hello, _doll_."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _Thank you for reading Part 11 of this story! I hope you enjoyed it!   I've been dying to have her meet the 1942 version of Bucky since I started writing this story!  What did you think of their first encounter?  Could any of us resist his charm?  She definitely underestimated him!  What do you think she realized at the end?  What do you think is going to happen next?  I look forward to your comments!_


	12. Chapter 12

She extended a hand toward him. “I can explain.”

“Don’t bother,” he said brushing away her hand as he tried to move past her. “My _memory_ is pretty clear.”

She felt like a kid that had been caught with her hand in the cookie jar, but she knew she shouldn’t feel guilty about what had happened. When she realized that he intended to stalk off yet again, a surge of anger enveloped her and before she could second guess herself, she lashed out at him with her magic, binding his arms to his side.

His eyes grew large and in the light emitted by her magical rope, she could see the anger darkening them. For a moment she was afraid she’d gone too far, but she was determined to see this through. Holding the other end of the tether, she began to wind it around one arm as she pulled with the other. She saw the look of shock in his eyes as he was pulled toward her against his will. He may have been stronger than her physically, but the serum was no match for her magic.

“You don’t get to walk away from me again,” she told him once they were eye to eye again.

“Let me go,” he hissed through his clenched teeth.

She shook her head. “Not until we talk about this.”

“What’s there to talk about?” he asked as he tried in vain to break the magical hold she had over him. “You had a mission, and you failed.”

His words stung, but only because she’d thought the same thing herself. It was one thing to think it, but it was another to hear someone else give voice to the doubts within herself. “I would have succeeded if _someone_ hadn’t decided to play Romeo.”

“You didn’t have to dance with him, you know?”

A look had come over his face that she couldn’t quite describe. It wasn’t anger – anger she could understand. As she stared into his eyes, she suddenly realized why it seemed so familiar to her. For the past decade she’d seen that look in her own eyes and hated herself every single time that emotion had surfaced within her.

“You’re jealous,” she told him, and had a moment of satisfaction when his eyes shift away from her. She had intended to goad him into admitting it, but then another thought struck her. “I don’t get it. Why would you be jealous of yourself?”

He turned back to her and leaned in close. “That man – the one you were dancing with, the one you kissed – that wasn’t me.”

She took a step back from him and her brows furrowed in confusion. What did he mean, that wasn’t him? She eyed him warily as she tried to understand his reasoning. “Explain.”

He dropped his head. “That man is dead, YN. HYDRA killed him in 1945.”

Her breath caught in her throat. How could she have not seen this? Of course he wouldn’t feel a connection to the man he used to be before HYDRA filled him with their poison. She didn’t see him like that, though. To her, there was no difference between the man standing before her and the one that had been holding her in his arms not more than an hour ago.

Her magic blinked away in an instant as she raised a hand to lay on his chest. He could have walked away from her at that moment, so she took it as a good sign that he stayed. “He’s not dead, Bucky. He’s right here.” She patted her hand over his heart to emphasize her point. “HYDRA tried to kill him, but they failed.”

He looked up at her and she found herself mesmerized by those intense blue-grey eyes yet again. They were the same eyes that had stared longingly into hers right before he’d kissed her. She could see the desire in his eyes, but she found herself wondering if he truly found her attractive, or if it was simply a result of the memory of the kiss she’d shared with the younger version of himself earlier in the night.

Bucky watched as her eyes began to darken, and he longed to pull her into his arms. All he had was a memory of the way she’d felt – the way she’d tasted – and he desperately needed to experience it at this moment to see if she was as intoxicating as he remembered. He raised his left hand without thinking, and ran a finger down the side of her cheek. When she flinched away from his touch, reality came crashing back down. It wasn’t him that she wanted. How could she? He was nothing more than a broken shell – not even a complete man with this metal monstrosity attached to his shoulder. She needed – no, she deserved a man that was whole, both in body and mind.

She hadn’t been able to control the involuntary reaction to the feel of the cold metal against her face, but she saw the way his demeanor changed in an instant. She could feel him pulling away from her even though he hadn’t yet moved, but she knew it wouldn’t be long before he was walking away from again. Reaching out, she grabbed his vibranium hand and brought it to her lips. Her eyes never left his as she placed a tender kiss to the palm.

“Your hand was cold,” she told him, her voice barely a whisper. “That’s all it was, I promise.”

He wasn’t sure he believed her, but when she turned her head and lay her cheek against the palm of his hand, he realized he wanted to believe her. He needed to believe her. He needed to believe that she could still want _him_ after being with the man he used to be. Steve had no problems reconciling the two versions of himself, but Steve didn’t have to worry about getting hurt – not with the serum. A woman, on the other hand, a woman had everything to fear from him. Physical intimacy brought with it a vulnerability that could be dangerous if he couldn’t rein in his own strength. He’d kept that part of himself shut down because it wasn’t worth the risk just to sate his own desires. But with her actions tonight, she’d awakened that part of himself again and he was finding it hard to remember his earlier convictions on the matter.

She watched the internal struggle as a myriad of emotions played over his face. She could see the desire and the doubt fighting for dominance behind his expressive eyes. It wasn’t until his fingers curled into her skin that she realized that desire had won out. Elation soared through her as he leaned in and kissed her for the second time that night.

YN wasn’t sure what she’d been expecting with this kiss, but she realized that she wasn’t all that shocked when it turned out to be exactly like the one from the dancehall. The feel of his lips was familiar, but not so much the hand that still cupped her cheek. Without the threat of interruption, they were able to lose themselves in one another, and even the odd sensation of cool metal against her skin faded away as the passion coursing through her veins dulled her ability to think.

His right hand soon joined his other as he framed her face. Her own hands had come to rest on his chest and she marveled at the difference between the lean body she’d been pressed against at the dancehall and this thicker, more muscular one beneath her fingers. The contrast had her mind reeling, so she focused on the feel of his mouth against hers. At least that was the same, and it was just as seductive now as it had been then.

He was drunk on the taste of her. It was just as he’d remembered, but yet somehow more potent. He was greedy for more, but he didn’t want to push her into anything she wasn’t ready for.

She ran her hands up over his shoulders and loosened the knot at the nape of his neck so she could bury her fingers in his hair. A smile played at the corners of her lips as she realized she liked the longer hair on him more than the shorter style he’d kept in his younger years.

When she pressed her body flush against his, he couldn’t stop the moan that vibrated through his chest. He felt her lips spread into a smile as he continued to kiss her and he knew at that moment he’d do anything to make her happy. He still wasn’t sure if it were really him that she wanted to be with, or the younger, more carefree version she’d met tonight, but he was selfish enough to put aside his worries and enjoy the moment.

She wasn’t sure how long they’d stood in the middle of the room locked in the passionate embrace, but she knew they’d either have to stop soon or continue down this road somewhere a little more comfortable. She was hoping for the latter option, but she didn’t want to push him. Her hands left his hair as they began to travel back down his body, her fingers grazing over the hardened muscles beneath the button-down dress shirt. She wanted nothing more than to feel his flesh beneath her fingers, but she was scared of moving too fast. When she felt him start to push her back toward the bed, she reluctantly pulled away from his kiss and grabbed ahold of his tie to pull him back a little quicker.

The mischievous gleam in her eye as she tugged on his tie had a new wave of desire flooding through him. He’d been hesitant to move too fast, but judging from her reaction, he’d been too slow. He allowed her to pull him back until the backs of her thighs hit the edge of the mattress. His hands went to her waist as he gently lifted her so that she was sitting on the bed. Never taking his eyes off of hers, he trailed his right hand down the length of her thigh and then cupped her calf to raise her leg to his waist.

“You’re not wearing any stockings,” he said with a confused look as he caressed her bare leg below the hem of her dress.

“Yeah, that’s probably never going to happen,” she told him with a grimace. “It’s way too hot outside and that garter belt looked really uncomfortable.”

“Doll,” he said, his voice laced with exasperation. “Do you have any idea how sexy a garter belt and stockings are?” She gave him a disbelieving look, so he decided a hands-on lesson was needed to get his point across. Sliding his hand around her knee, he began to slip it up and under her dress as he leaned in and whispered in her ear. “If you were wearing stockings, then you wouldn’t really be able to feel my hands gliding up your legs.” His hand stopped, but he continued speaking. “I’d stop just below the lacy edging, and wait until I heard the breath catch in your throat.” He waited for a beat and wasn’t disappointed when he heard her breath begin to quicken. “Then” he said, drawing out his words as his hand demonstrated. “I’d slowly begin to stroke your bare inner thighs with my thumbs until your legs began to quiver beneath my touch.”

She may not have been wearing the garter and stockings, but between him whispering in her ear and his fingers dancing over her sensitive skin, she was having the exact same reaction he was describing. If she’d known how sexy he found the undergarments, she wouldn’t have hesitated to wear them. It was too late to do anything about it now, but she’d definitely endure the torture of wearing them tomorrow if it meant she could experience all the pleasure he was he was promising tonight. 

Leaning back, she met his gaze. The moonlight shining through the window wasn’t much, but her eyes had grown accustomed to the dark. His thumbs continued to tease her, and she was slowly starting to lose her mind. She grabbed his tie and began to loosen the knot, sliding it from beneath the collar of his shirt and tossing it toward the pillows at the head of the bed. They may find a use for that later. With their eyes locked, she began to undo the buttons on his shirt, one by one, letting her fingers graze over the bare skin she was exposing as she continued her journey downward.

He’d always loved to let a woman undress him, almost as much as he loved undressing a woman. There was something to be said for the fashion of this time period with all of the buttons that had to be painstakingly undone. It was a type of foreplay in and of itself, and he was glad that he could at least have this one familiarity for his first time with her. It was a comfort to him since it was all he’d ever known of lovemaking, and he felt somewhat in control of this situation because of it. 

When she’d finished unbuttoning his shirt and began to slip her hands inside, he took a step back away from her. He tried to convince himself that he was just teasing her, but he knew it was because of his arm. The scars where the original arm had been fused to his flesh were mostly gone thanks to Shuri, but it was still a shock for some people to see the sudden shift from flesh to metal. He’d rather she see it before she felt it. For some reason, he thought he could handle a look of revulsion from her more than he could the feel of her hand jerking away.

She saw the wariness in his eyes and was confused for a moment before he briefly glanced toward his left shoulder. Realization dawned on her and her chest tightened when she finally understood why he’d pulled away. She wasn’t sure what her reaction would have been to have suddenly been reminded that one of his arms was made of metal. He’d made sure not to touch her with the vibranium hand too much, and she knew it was because he was self-conscious about it. She wished she could tell him how beautiful his arm was – that she loved the thin gold inlays between the plates of vibranium and how they caught the reflected the light when the sun hit it just right. She may tell him eventually, but now didn’t seem like the right time. Now he needed to handle things in his own way, and she wouldn’t stop him, no matter how badly she wanted to reassure him that it didn’t matter to her.

Twisting around on the bed, she shifted her legs beneath her so that she was sitting back on her heels. He was taking his sweet time slipping the shirt off of his shoulders and she wondered if he was intentionally trying to tease her. She caught a glint of something in his eyes as undid the buttons at his wrists, and she was almost positive that she was right about the teasing. 

Raising one eyebrow in annoyance, she pretended to check the time on her wrist. She heard him chuckle and was glad she’d made the joke. The smile on her face began to fade as he started shrugging out of his shirt. She knew that his arm went up to his shoulder, but she’d never seen just how far it extended toward his collarbone and over his chest. Resisting the urge to turn him around so she could see how much of his back was covered by the arm, she tried to school her features so he wouldn’t see the sadness in her eyes.

Eventually the urge to have her hands on him again overpowered her reasoning, but she was careful where she touched him. Remembering that he hadn’t objected to her hands on his pecs, she started there. His skin was smooth and warm with passion and she reveled in the way the muscles beneath her fingers jumped as she scraped her fingernails down his abdomen. He let out a guttural moan as her fingers played over the waistband of his trousers, but she wasn’t ready to go there just yet. Sliding her hands back up his chest, she began to move towards his shoulders. Pausing for a moment, she silently asked permission before she moved any further. The moment stretched out for what seemed like hours, but eventually he gave her a curt nod and she tentatively ran a thumb over the line between flesh and metal. 

He gritted his teeth and waited for her to pull away from him, so when he felt her lips against his shoulder, he was shocked. His eyes flew open as he watched her tenderly kiss along the scar that had up until that moment repulsed him. Now he was looking at it through her eyes, and suddenly it wasn’t that bad anymore. 

She could feel his eyes on her, but she wasn’t worried. He hadn’t pulled away from her, so she took it as a good sign. Pulling away, she met his gaze again and saw the disbelief in his eyes. Knowing the next move was on her, she grazed her fingers down his arms and and grabbed his hands. Lifting them to her chest, she gave him a wink. “Your turn.”

A switch flipped in him. He’d gone from hesitant and unsure to aroused again with only two words from her lips and a ridiculously sexy wink. He was ready to pick up where they’d left off, but there was something else he needed to know before he continued. The debate had raged within him about whether or not he should say something, but he knew if he didn’t, he’d always be left wondering.

“Are you sure you want this?” he asked, looking deep into her eyes as though the answer to his question could be found in those beautiful depths.

“I’m practically begging you to rip my clothes off of me,” she said with a smirk. “How much more reassurance do you need?”

He closed his eyes and tilted his head back as he took a deep breath. Meeting her gaze again, he rephrased his question. “Are you sure you want me?” She still seemed puzzled, so he added, “You’re not secretly thinking about _him_ , are you?”

She rolled her eyes and let out of huff of agitation. “For the last time, he _is_ you.”

It was his turn to be confused, but he eventually figured out what she was talking about. “I’m not talking about the other me.”

“Then who are you talking about, Bucky?” she asked, still not sure what he was talking about.

“Stark,” he whispered, almost scared to say his name out loud.

Her mouth dropped open and she leaned away from him a bit. Tony? He thought she was pretending he was Tony? The idea was so ridiculous she wanted to laugh, but she knew that would do nothing but push him away from her. Since that first kiss in the dancehall, he’d occupied all of her thoughts, and she hadn’t thought of Tony, not even once. She wasn’t ready to say she was completely over the man she’d longed for for years, but for once, another man had kissed her and she hadn’t given the billionaire a single thought. Her mind went back to that conversation with Nat back in Prague. Nat had told her when she met the right guy, she’d forget Tony ever existed. She truly doubted she’d ever forget about Tony, but right now he wasn’t the man at the forefront of her mind, and to her that was major progress.

“Bucky,” she said finally, saying his name with enough conviction to get him to really listen to her. “I want _you_.” She grabbed his vibranium hand and laid it over her heart. “I want your hands on my body. I want your lips kissing mine. I want my hands buried in your hair and your name on my lips when I finally go screaming over the edge.” 

Her impassioned speech erased all of the doubts in his mind, and he wasted no time popping each of the little red buttons on the front of her dress. She’d raised up on her knees and had captured his mouth with hers. She seemed to be pouring every ounce of passion she had into the kiss, in what he assumed was her effort to prove to him in actions that she meant what she had said. At that point, he was beyond caring. She was soft and warm in him arms and the only thing he was concerned about were the moans and sighs of pleasure he elicited from her with every kiss of his lips and caress of his hands.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _Thank you for reading Part 12 of this story!  I hope you enjoyed it! Had you guessed that he would have the “memories” of her time with the younger Bucky as it happened? Time travel is always so tricky to write, but I thought it would add to the sexual tension between them. How do you feel about her flirting with and kissing the younger Bucky and then going back to Howard’s and continuing the seduction with the future version of Bucky? I’ve gone back and forth on whether it’s sexy or kinda creepy, and obviously sexy won out! (͡° ͜ʖ ͡ ) Where do you think things go from here? Is she ready to move on from Tony, or is Bucky just a distraction until they get back to the future? I look forward to your comments!_


	13. Chapter 13

He'd wanted to stay in bed a little longer, but she'd insisted they take a shower before she fell asleep.  Although the water pressure was amazing, the shower in her bathroom only consisted of a curtain that enclosed the claw-foot tub in the corner of the room.  She wasn't one to turn down shower sex whenever the opportunity presented itself, but there was no way they were going to make that work without potentially flooding the bathroom or falling and breaking their necks.  With that option off the table, she decided to make the best of the situation and insisted on washing his hair for him.  She could tell it was a new experience for him from the skeptical look in his eye when she first broached the topic and then later from the almost-obscene moans of pleasure he failed to contain.

Once they'd stepped out of the tub and began to dry off, she felt his eyes on her.  Looking over her shoulder she noticed that he was staring at her the same way he'd been on the plane from Prague to New York.  Even now, she couldn't figure out what the look in his eye meant, and she was hesitant to ask.

Bucky had no other clothes than the ones she'd helped him divest of earlier in the evening, and she hadn't thought to bring any into the bathroom herself.  Settling for a towel wrapped around their bodies, they headed back into the bedroom.   She searched through the drawers for something other than a nightgown, but she stopped when she heard the sound of a zipper.

Glancing back at Bucky, she was surprised to see him getting dressed.  "What are you doing?"

He'd slipped his shirt back on and was just about to start buttoning it, but he paused to answer her.  "I'm heading back to my room."

"Oh," she said, a little crestfallen.  "You don't want to stay?"

His fingers were frozen over the buttons and for a moment he had no idea what to say.  "I think it's. . .I mean, I can't possibly. . .what will the others think?"

She gave him a devious smile as she sauntered across the room in nothing but a towel.  Untucking the edge just above her breast, she let it fall to the floor.  She saw him swallow hard as his gaze traveled down the length of her now naked body.  She slipped her hands into the sleeves of his dress shirt and slowly drew it down his arms.  Sliding her own arms into the sleeves, she met his gaze as she began buttoning the shirt from the bottom up, stopping well below her neck so that the oversized shirt gaped a bit.

"This is much better than a nightgown," she said with a grin as she grabbed the waistband of his pants and pulled him closer to her.  "You, however, are way overdressed for sleeping.  Why don't we get rid of these pants and you can just sleep in your boxers."

"YN," he said, his voice taking on a cautious tone.  "I know you may not care about your reputation, but I do."

Rolling her eyes and shaking her head, she wrapped her arms around his neck.  "No one cares, Bucky.  We both know that Howard is a womanizer – Jarvis and Ana are probably used to him bringing home a different woman every night.  Besides, we won't be here too much longer."  She could see him start to waiver and she knew all he needed was one more little push.  Taking his hands, she placed them around her waist and played her ace in the hole.  "Besides, if Howard knows that you're sleeping in my room, he'll stop flirting with me so much."

He couldn't help the involuntary reaction he had to the thought of Howard with his hands on her.  His arms wrapped a little tighter around her as his gaze narrowed.  "If he touches you again, I can't be held responsible for my actions."

She leaned in to kiss him.  "I'm glad you're finally starting to see things my way."

The fingers of his right hand began trailing up and down her spine as he held her close to him.  "Dance with me?"

"What?" she asked, completely taken off guard by his question.

"You asked me to dance with you this afternoon, and I stupidly refused," he explained.  "Does the offer still stand?"

One corner of her mouth turned up in a smirk.  "You've already danced with me this evening – multiple times if memory serves."

Sometimes he hated that smart mouth of hers, but he couldn't deny that he enjoyed the other ways she'd learned to put it use.  Sliding a hand up to the nape of her neck, he held her still so he could brush his lips across hers.  Kissing her was an effective, and exceedingly pleasurable way to get her to stop talking.  While she was focused on the kiss, he began to slowly sway.  When he felt her pick up the rhythm, he pulled back to look in her eyes and began to lead her around the room to a tune that had been stuck in his head all evening.

For once, she was quiet and let him take the lead.  He was surprised at well she picked up dancing, but she was extremely graceful when she fought, so it really wasn't that hard for her.  The clouds had dissipated completely and the moon was shining brightly through the window, highlighting every contour on her face for him.  She had the most expressive eyes, and he'd been subjected to their fury on more than one occasion, but now they were soft and dreamy.  A surge of possessiveness swept through him as he thought about the way Stark had treated for the better part of a decade.  Couldn't he see the amazing woman that had been right in front of him all those years?  His heart ached for her, but secretly he was glad Stark had ignored her, or he might not be the one holding her in his arms right now.

She reached up and ran her thumb along the spot between his brows.  "I can tell you're overthinking something again.  Stop it."

His face relaxed and his scowl was replaced by a smile.  "I'm just trying to figure out how we got here."

She let out a deep sigh.  "Well, you were stupid enough to try to touch the Eye of Agamotto and when I tried to stop you, we were both hurled through time and space to 1942."

"That's not what I meant, and you know it."

She laced her fingers behind his head and pulled his forehead toward hers.  "I know what you meant."  She gave him a long look before continuing.  "If anyone had told me a few weeks ago that you and I would be dancing half-naked in the middle of Howard Stark's guest bedroom after the most mind-numbing sex of my life, I'd probably have called them a liar."

His eyes grew wide as his eyebrows shot up in surprise.  "The most mind-numbing sex of your life?"

"Don't let it go to your head," she warned with a half-hearted glare.  "All that dancing earlier this evening was basically foreplay, and then I come back here and you pull out the sexy murder strut with those angry bedroom eyes.  I didn't stand a chance."

He froze, causing her to look at him in confusion.  "You only slept with me because of him?"

She closed her eyes as she let out an angry breath.  "For the last time, you two are the same person.  Why is it that I can grasp this concept, but you can't?"  She pulled away from him and threw out her arms in frustration.  "I mean, c'mon, Bucky.  The only reason you knew about me dancing with you, and kissing you, was because _you_ remembered it happening."

"You'd rather be with him though, wouldn't you?" he asked as he took a step away from her.

She reached out to stop him, making sure to grab his vibranium hand.  "What do you want me to say?  The man I met tonight was charming, and yes, he swept me off my feet, but he's bit overconfident if you ask me."  Pausing to take a breath, she weighed her next words carefully.  "Since I've met you, you've been nothing but broody and sullen.  I completely understand why, and I'm not holding it against you, but for the past couple hours, you've been more like the guy I met tonight than the one I met in Germany last year.  Even you have to admit that.  So that begs the question, what changed?"

He looked down at the hand holding on to his and then back up at her.  He didn't want to admit that she was right, but she was.  When he was with her, just the two of them, he felt more like himself than he had in years.  But it scared him.  Did he have any right to be happy after the atrocities he'd committed while he'd been the Winter Soldier?  Was it fair to burden her with his sins when he could barely breath under the weight of them?

She could see the wheels turning in his mind and she was sure she wouldn't like the conclusion he was about to come to.  Still holding his hand, she brought her other one up to cup his face.  "Your past doesn't have to define you, Bucky.  You get to choose who you want to be from here on out."  She rubbed a thumb over his cheek.  "I don't want you to pretend to be someone you're not, but I don't think for one second you want to spend the rest of your life brooding like some goth vampire in a crappy young adult novel.  People always call you Sergeant Barnes, but you insist on correcting them.  You want to be Bucky Barnes again.  You want to be that carefree, charming guy with a smile permanently etched on your face.  "

He started to laugh in spite of himself, and she let out a sigh of relief when the smile returned to his face.  She'd never denied that he was a good looking guy, but when he smiled – really smiled – it completely transformed him.  She felt her stomach flip when he directed that smile at her and the breath caught in her throat for a moment.

"I don't want to be the Soldier anymore," he told her as his free hand went back to her waist to pull her toward him again.  "But I don't think I'll ever be like the man you met tonight."  He dropped her hand and placed one metal finger against her lips to keep her from interrupting.  "He's still a part of me – you're right about that – but I've seen too much and done too much in the past seventy years to ever be that innocent and naïve again.  I have to live with those demons for the rest of my life, but I don't have to let them control me anymore."

When he removed his finger, she took it as a sign he was ready to listen to her again.  She was peeved that he kept trying to shut her up, but she was glad he was finally starting to see reason, so she let the matter drop.  "I want to help you, and not just because I find the more confident and charming version of you completely irresistible."  She gave him a wink and took it as a good sign when he dropped his head to try to hide his smile."  I spent a good deal of my life trying to find happiness, and it took me a long time to realize that it had always inside of me.  Once I pushed my own insecurities out of the way, I was finally free to be the person I'd always longed to be.  I'm no expert in the matter, but if you'll let me, I'd like to try to help you find your happiness again."

"Do you have a plan?" he asked, looking at her skeptically.  "Or are you going to handle this like Steve would and just wing it?"

She gave him a confused look.  "What are you talking about?  Steve always a has a plan."

He shook his head with a sigh.  "You haven't figured it out yet, have you? Steve's plan always consists of him finding the biggest, meanest guy in the room and picking a fight with him."

She thought back to some of the missions she'd been on with Steve and realized that Bucky was right.  "I don't see how that's a problem – who else would take on the biggest guy?"

"You don't get it, doll," Bucky said with a grin.  "You met the real Steve Rogers tonight.  The serum he took didn't change his personality one bit – it just gave him the ability to defeat the other guy."

YN imagined the ninety pound asthmatic she'd met tonight taking on the Chitari and she finally realized the point Bucky was trying to make.  "Oh my God, he doesn't ever have a plan." Her eyes were wide when she focused on Bucky's smiling face again.  "We put him in charge of the Avengers."

Bucky started laughing.  "I know.  At least when he was leading the Howlies, he had me and the other guys to talk him some sense into him.  You guys see him as this wise, old soul, but he's nothing more than a loose canon with a heart of gold."

"Wow," she said with a nod of her head.  "This trip has been extremely informative."  She wrapped her arms around his neck and gave him a thoughtful look.  "I guess I'll be taking a page out of Steve's book then because I don't have a plan.  I say we just wing it and see how it goes."

He leaned in and lightly brushed his lips across hers.  "Winging it has worked out so far – we should probably stick to what we know is working."

"You won't hear any complaints out of me."  

Not wanting to talk anymore, she effectively ended the conversation with a kiss that was intended to make him forget his train of thought and focus solely on her.  She knew she'd succeeded when she felt him guiding her back toward the bed.

 

When she felt him trying to slip out of the bed without waking her, she smiled, but it was no use – she was already awake.  "Where are you going?"

"I didn't mean to wake you," he said, leaning down to kiss her forehead.  "I'm going to go change before I head to the training room.  Do you want to join me?"

She gave him a long look.  "Are you going to fight dirty like you did yesterday?"

He stepped into his pants and zipped them up as he gave her a wink.  "Probably.  Are you going to give me my shirt back, or do I have to walk down the hall like this?"

"I think it's a good look on you," she teased.  "Besides, I like this shirt so I'm keeping it."

Shaking his head, he grabbed his shoes and headed for the door.  "Meet me in the hallway in ten minutes."

She lay in bed for a few moments after he'd left as she thought about the difference between last night and the night before.  He'd been alone with her in her room both nights, but it was like she'd been with two different men.  The only thing she could think of to account for the difference was her interactions with the younger version of him.  She'd told him she didn't have a plan to help him get back to the man he'd used to be, but that wasn't exactly true.  She had a theory she wanted to test out, but she knew he'd never go along with it.  Somehow she would have to enact her plan without anyone figuring out what she was up to.

With a sigh, she realized that she only had about five minutes left before Bucky's time limit was up.  She had no doubts that he would barge back into her room and get all broody again if she were late, so she slid out of bed and quickly donned her tactical gear.

When she opened the door to her room, she found him waiting for her across the hall, one shoulder leaned against the doorframe opposite hers with his feet crossed at his ankles.  His posture seemed relaxed enough, but it was impossible to miss the annoyed look on his face.

"You've got to learn to lighten up," she told as she breezed past him and started down the stairs.  "It's not like we've got a set schedule or anything."

"The longer we stay here, the more we risk changing the future," he reminded her as he followed her down the stairs.  "Are you going to try to talk to Steve again today?"

She reached the bottom of the stairs and looked back up at him questioningly.  "Do you know where he is this morning?"

Bucky started to say something, but then stopped.  "I haven't gotten my orders yet, so I'm still working.  Steve doesn't really have a set schedule, but I know some of the places he might be."

"I don't think anyone has ever told me what you did before the war," she said as she squinted her eyes in thought.  "Where did you work?"

"It's nothing glamorous," he told her with a shrug.  "I worked down at the docks helping to load the ships heading to England for the war."

"And then you got drafted," she said, already knowing how that part of his story played out.  

"I get drafted and Steve decides to volunteer to be a guinea pig for Howard Stark," Bucky lamented with a sigh.  "I've always wondered what would have happened if I hadn't gotten drafted."

"You can 'what if' yourself to death if you're not careful," she said as she laid a hand on his arm.  "What's done is done and you need to work on moving forward."  Turning away from him, she started back down the hallway toward the set of stairs that led to the basement.  "You're sure you don't remember Steve telling you where he was going today?"

"That was over seventy years ago," he reminded her as they continued down the second set of steps.  "I doubt I was paying much attention to him back then anyway."

She stopped in the middle of the stairwell and turned back to face him.  "Did you tell him about me last night?"  The smile on her face faded a bit as she realized something.  "You never did tell me how the whole memory thing worked.  Did you remember me last night as it was happening, or after I'd left the dancehall?"

"Does it matter?" he asked, evading her question.  

She shrugged.  "I'm just curious if you two will have the memory of what it was like the first time and then another memory where I'm there.  You're only remembering it as it happens because you're living through this part of your life again, but Steve is probably going to have a whole new set of memories pop into his mind. . ." She stopped and thought for a second.  "Well, it'll probably hit right after the Eye transports us back here."

"What are you talking about?" Bucky asked, confused by her train of thought.

"Think about it," she said as she met his eye again.  "We're stuck here until Strange and Steve come back to get us, and that could be at any time.  The second we came back in time, Steve suddenly remembered meeting me and he's probably already working with Strange on a plan to get us back to the present day."

"And if they can't?" Bucky asked, not really wanted to give voice to the doubts he knew they both had.

"Don't underestimate the Eye, or the sorcerer who wields it," she cautioned.  "I guarantee that Steve already knows exactly when to come back for us. . ."

"So we don't need to do anything else?" he interrupted, trying to figure out her reasoning.

She shook her head.  "Just the opposite.  I need to keep talking to Steve so I can drop hints for him to decipher in the future.  I didn't get to talk to him long enough last night, so it's doubtful that he'll even remember meeting me.  I can try to go looking for him today. . ."

"He'll be at the Three Deuces tonight," Bucky said, interrupting her.

She gave him a skeptical look.  "How can you be so sure?"

"Because I will drag him back there hoping to see you again," he admitted with a pained expression.

A slow smile turned up the corners of her mouth as she took a step closer to him.  "I already know you like me, Bucky.  Why does it bother you that the younger version of you likes me, too?"

He wrapped an arm around her waist and leaned in to kiss her.  "Because you need to talk to Steve, not flirt with me.  I know myself well enough to know that I won't give you a chance to talk to my best friend – not when I can have you all to myself on the dance floor."

"I can see how that will be a problem."  She stepped away from him and started back down the stairs to the training room before throwing one more comment over her shoulder.  "I just can't find it in me to be upset about it."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _Thank you for reading Part 13 of this story!  I hope you enjoyed it! Any thoughts about what her plan might be to help Bucky become the man he used to be again? I hope you were able to follow along with her theories about Steve remembering her. Time travel is so confusing! Don’t worry, though, I will go back to the present day at some point and explain things from Steve’s perspective. . .that is, of course, if she ever gets a chance to talk to him alone so he’ll know to come rescue them! I look forward to your comments!_


	14. Chapter 14

YN and Bucky walked into the training room to find Howard, Jarvis, and Ana already there. Howard was showing Ana a new move, while Jarvis was in the corner stretching.

"Good morning," Jarvis said as he bent down into a deep lunge. "Did you sleep well?"

"I don't think they got any sleep at all," Ana teased as she gave them a wink.

Howard looked from Ana to Bucky and YN and then back to Ana. "What do you mean? What happened last night?"

"My dear," Jarvis warned. "Leave them be."

"So, Ana," YN said, completely ignoring Howard. "What are you learning today?"

A huge smile came over Ana's face. "Mr. Stark is showing me how to get out of a choke hold." 

"Is he now?" YN asked, wondering what he was actually teaching her. "Show me."

She walked up behind Ana and wrapped one arm loosely around her throat. The other woman began trying to twist YN's wrist, but she couldn't get YN's arm to budge.

"Just what I thought," YN said shaking her head as she let Ana go. "Bucky, you want to help me out over here?"

"Sure thing, doll," he said as he walked up behind her and wrapped his vibranium arm around her neck.

"That's cheating," she said over her shoulder.

He gave her wink and switched arms, but Ana had been watching them carefully. She'd seen him leaving YN's room with no shirt and his shoes in his hand, so she'd had her suspicions. Now it seemed as though she'd been right, but how to get them to admit it?

"Are you paying attention?" YN asked Ana before setting into motion. "First you want to take your elbow and shove it backwards into his solar plexus, like this." She demonstrated the move, and heard Bucky's quick intake of breath as her elbow found it's mark. "As you can see, your assailant is a little bent over now trying to catch his breath. Now you take your foot and slam it down as hard as you can on his."

"Oh, no you don't," Bucky warned as he stepped out of the way of her foot.

YN let out a laugh. "I'm sorry, are you scared I'm going to hurt you?"

"Yes," he admitted without chagrin. "You're lethal when you want to be."

"It's the super soldier serum," Howard said, puffing out his chest with pride. 

"Anyway," YN said, turning her attention back to Ana. "Once you've stomped on his foot, he should be in enough pain for you to slip out of his grasp. He'll still be bent over catching his breath, so this is the perfect opportunity to take the heel of your hand and slam it into his nose."

"Not a chance," Bucky said as he took a step away from her as he pointed to his face. "I mean, c'mon, you don't really want to damage this face, now do you, doll?"

YN could barely contain her smile. She didn't want to get her hopes up, but she enjoying this new side of him more and more each minute. "Of course not, but we have to show Ana how to defend herself."

"Fine," he said stepping toward her again. "But be gentle."

"That's not what you said last night," she whispered so quietly that she knew he'd be the only one to hear her.

She saw the blush start to creep up his face and took the opportunity finish her lesson. "Okay, this is how you hit the nose." She mimed shoving the heel of her hand toward Bucky's nose. "Now, if you have enough force and hit it just right, there's a possibility you could shove the cartilage into his brain, which would kill him instantly, so you need to be careful with this move. Obviously, if you're in a life or death situation – go for the kill."

Ana stood off to the side and began to practice shoving her hand up into the air at an imaginary assailant. "That's a good move."

"I'm not finished just yet," YN said as she gave Bucky a sorrowful smile. "If he's not dead, then you want to make sure he'll be too incapacitated to come after you. You grab his shoulders like this." She paused to make sure Ana was watching. "Then you take your knee and go straight for the family jewels."

She hadn't intended to actually knee Bucky in the groin, but he didn't know that. Acting on impulse, he reached down and grabbed her knee. Pulling up on her leg, he unbalanced her and sent her sprawling backwards on the mat.

She stared up at him in disbelief. Deciding to get even, she used her foot to sweep his feet out from under him, but she'd misjudged where he would fall. Thankfully, his quick reflexes helped him to catch himself before he fell right on top of her.

"If you wanted a repeat of last night all you had to do was ask," he whispered in her ear before rose to his feet and offered her a hand.

As he pulled her up, she allowed the momentum to bring her right into his arms. "Oh, trust me, there will be a repeat of last night." She took a step back from him as she silently mouthed the word "many."

"Oh, that's perfect," Ana exclaimed. "But how will I ever remember what order to do them in?"

"Well, that's the easy part," YN said as she turned back to the bubbly redhead. "Just remember to SING."

"Sing?" Jarvis asks, his brows knitted in confusion.

"Ah," Howard said as he finally figured it out. "I get it. Solar plexus, Instep, Nose, and Groin. SING. That's brilliant, YN."

"I really can't take credit for it," she said with a shrug. "I saw it in a movie once." 

"I want to try it out," Ana declared. "Edwin, come over her and pretend to be my assailant."

"I think not," Jarvis said with a shake of his head. "You won't be inflicting that kind of pain on me today, my dear."

"Oh, poo," Ana said before turning to Howard. "You wouldn't mind, would you Mr. Stark?"

Bucky stepped in before Howard had a chance to answer. "C'mon, Ana. I'll be your guinea pig."

She gave him a beaming smile and stepped back into his waiting arm. Taking a breath she looked at YN. "I just have to remember to SING."

"That's right," YN told her as she gave her a thumbs up. "You've got this."

"And don't worry, dear,I'll make sure not to damage the goods," Ana said with a wink just before she jammed her elbow back into Bucky's sternum.

Bucky hadn't been prepared for Ana to hit him that hard, and with a gasp, he doubled over. He had a high pain tolerance, but he still had sensitive spots just like anyone else and if someone hit them just right, it would knock the wind out of him.

Ana seemed overjoyed that she'd hit her mark and continued running through the moves YN had showed her. She stomped on Bucky's foot, but before she could try out the nose maneuver, he took a step back so that all she hit was air. Unperturbed, she grabbed his shoulders and made to knee him in the groin.

Bucky's hands went straight to his crotch to protect himself from Ana's knee, but before she could make contact, she let him go and twirled in a circle as she laughed and clapped her hands.

"That was so much fun," she said before turning back to Bucky. "I didn't hurt you, did I Sergeant Barnes. I'd hate to interfere in your and YN's extracurricular activities." She gave him a cheeky wink and waited to see what they would say.

"What are you talking about Ana?" Howard asked, flustered that he seemed to be the only one that didn't know what was going on in his own house.

YN looked at Bucky and shrugged her shoulders. "Bucky will be moving into my room for the remainder of our stay here."

"I will?" Bucky asked. "Why aren't you moving into my. . ." He stopped when he saw the look in her eye. "Yes, I'll be moving in YN's room starting today."

"Well, hell," Howard said as he shook his head and retrieved his wallet from his back pocket. Handing Ana a twenty dollar bill, he began muttering under his breath and with a glare in Bucky's direction, he left the room.

YN's mouth dropped open as Jarvis buried his face in his hands, obviously embarrassed at the antics of his wife and his employer. "You and Howard made a bet. What were the terms, if you don't mind me asking. Not that you should mind since you were making bets about us behind our backs."

"I simply told Howard that the two of you were more than colleagues, and he disagreed with me." Ana folded the twenty and shoved it down the front of her shirt into her bra. "He bet me twenty dollars that I was wrong. Easiest money I've ever earned."

"How did you know?" YN asked.

"She saw Sergeant Barnes leaving your room this morning in a state of undress," Jarvis answered, ready to end this conversation. "Now are we going to train, or are we going to gossip all day?"

"Are you ever going to tell Stark that you're not a super soldier?" Bucky whispered in her ear.

She looked at him like he was crazy. "Of course not. He thinks I'm a badass."

"Doll," Bucky said with an exasperated look. "You are a badass."

"Aw, Bucky," she said as she leaned over and gave him a quick peck on the lips. "You say the sweetest things to me."

The two couples took opposites sides of the room to finish their training. YN was surprised at how easy it was to spar with Bucky now that he wasn't out to prove a point. She would never tell him, but she could see why HYDRA had used him to train the girls in the Red Room. He had a way of noticing her weak spots and helped her to correct her mistakes. She doubted Nat had had it this easy, but she'd had to deal with the Soldier, while YN got the benefit of learning from Bucky.

When they'd called it a day, they'd headed back to their rooms to change. She'd suggested he gather up all of his things and go ahead and move them over to her room while she took a shower. When he'd pulled back the curtain and joined her a few minutes later, she hadn't complained one bit.

"So, give me a list of all the places Steve may be today and I'll go around and see if I can find him," she told him as she started getting dressed.

Bucky let out a sigh and thought for a moment. "He likes to go to the museum. Sometimes he'll go to the park and sketch. . ."

"Steve can draw?" YN asked as she struggled with the fasteners on the garter belt.

Bucky was putting on his socks, but paused to look over at her. When he saw her standing there in nothing but her underwear, his mouth went dry. He loved her strength and the fact that she could hold her own with him while they trained, but seeing her like this completely floored him. She looked soft and vulnerable, and he felt an overwhelming urge to protect her.

"Here, let me," he said as he reached over and pulled her closer to him as he turned her around. 

With fingers that had had years of practice taking this particular garment off a woman, he deftly fastened the six hooks on the back. He spun her back around as he placed one hand on the back of her thigh and lifted it so that her foot rested on his leg. He reached over for a stocking and rolled it between his fingers before sliding it over her foot. Very slowly, he slid the silk up her calf and over her knee as he looked up at her.

She couldn't have spoken a word if her life depended on it. Her heart was hammering in her chest and her breath was coming in shorts gasps. As he clipped the ends of the garters onto the stocking, she could feel her leg start to quiver under his touch. The sensation of hot and cold had her senses reeling.

He could see her eyes starting to cloud over as he watched her chest heave with every breath she took. It had been a long time since he'd been able to have this effect on a woman, and he loved seeing that lustful look in her eye in the light of day. All too often, he'd been relegated to the cover of darkness and he'd missed seeing how his touch could bring a woman right to the edge.

When he'd finished with her left leg, he gently placed it on the ground and repeated the process with her right. He knew it wouldn't have taken much to get her back in bed with him, but she still had a mission, and he liked the idea of her thinking about him reversing this process later that night.

When he turned back to his own clothes without a word, she felt let down. He'd gotten her all worked up and then left her to wallow in her own arousal. "That's it?"

He glanced back at her with feigned innocence. "I said I'd help you get them on, doll. I never said anything about taking them off."

She leaned over and whispered in his ear. "Two can play this game, Barnes."

His stomach fell as he realized what she meant. He'd already told her that his younger self and Steve would be at the Three Deuces tonight looking for her. What was she planning to do to him?

She chose a navy blue dress that looked like something a USO girl would wear on tour. It had an empire waist and a wide boat neck with a mock scarf that tied at her breasts. There were thin white stripes along the hem, the sleeves, and along the neckline. She could feel Bucky's eyes watching her as she slipped it over her hips, shimming a bit just to drive him crazy. With a glance over her shoulder, she nodded toward her back so he would help her zip it up.

She realized her mistake as she felt the cold vibranium at the base of her spine as he slowly drug the zipper up her back. His right hand was on her hip and his fingers were digging into her flesh as he teased her.

"Make sure you're here tonight to help me out of all this," she told him with a wink as she slid her feet into the same heels she'd worn the day before.

"Make sure _I'_ m the one that helps you out of those clothes tonight, doll," he said.

"Bucky Barnes," she said in mock horror, one hand at her throat. "What kind of woman do you take me for? Do you really think I'm going to jump into bed with a guy I just met yesterday?"

"It's happened before," he teased as he pulled her toward him. "Remember it's wartime and these girls don't know if they'll ever see their guys again. Morals became a lot looser during this time period."

She leaned in and kissed him. "I'll be back later tonight."

"I'll be waiting," he told her as she walked toward the door. "Oh, and check the movie theaters for Steve – especially the back alleys. Punk likes to pick fights back there when I'm not around."

She shook her head and closed the door behind her.

When he heard the lock catch, he sat down and took a deep breath as he rested his elbows on his knees. A part of him wanted her to fail, just so they could stay in this little bubble they'd created for themselves. He worried that once they got back home that things would change between them. He knew he hadn't known her long, but she'd wormed her way into his heart and he could already see a change in himself when he was with her. He liked who he was when he was around her, and he was scared that if he lost her, he'd lose the last little bit of the man he used to be.

 

Jarvis offered to drive her around town again, but she asked him if it would be alright if she took the train. She was familiar enough with New York that she should be able to get around on her own and that way, Jarvis wouldn't be stuck chauffeuring her around all day. He'd balked at the idea at first, but then on second thought, he'd given her some cash and told her to have a nice day.

She found the train station with no problem. It was an odd experience being in a familiar city, but having everything around her look so foreign. The people on the train eyed her warily since she was traveling alone, but she didn't let it bother her. She was too busy taking everything in to really pay attention to the stares.

She tried the museum first. Wandering through the galleries, she found herself looking at some of the same paintings she'd seen in this very museum seventy years from now. Being in a place like this reminded her that time was more expansive that most people realized. 

After walking around for over an hour with no sign of Steve, she headed back toward the park. Prospect Park was a huge area, but Bucky had mentioned that Steve liked to sit by the Boathouse and sketch the trees reflecting off the water of The Lake. She took her time wandering along the paths, enjoying the mild summer day as young families with baby carriages passed her by.

As she grew closer to the Boathouse, she spotted him. Even though it was a nice day, he had on a khaki overcoat that seemed to swallow his small frame. She took a seat on a bench and watched him for a few minutes, looking for traces of the man she knew. 

He seemed to be invisible to the people around him, and it broke her heart yet again to realize how mistreated he'd been before the serum. She would've liked to think that she would have noticed him and befriended him if she'd met him before he'd become Captain America, but she wasn't so sure.

It wasn't until a group of guys started harassing a group of young girls that she finally reconciled this version of Steve with the imposing superhero she'd grown close to. Standing up and puffing out his chest, he confronted the guys. She held her breath as one of them shoved him backwards, almost knocking him on his backside, but he wasn't finished with them yet. Regaining his balance, he came back at the guy and shoved him into his friends. She couldn't hear what he was saying, but she had an idea. Part of her wanted to go over and help him, but she knew he wouldn't appreciate it. 

While Steve was fighting the guys, the group of girls had scurried away. Once the buffoons realized this, they decided Steve wasn't worth their time, so one of them shoved him again and they took off running in her direction. Not one to back down from a fight herself, she stood up just as they came near the bench she was sitting on.

"Well, hello, beautiful," one of them sneered as he came to a stop in front of her.

"You'd do well to leave my friend alone," she warned them in a low voice.

"What, those dames?" another one of the guys asked. "We were just messing around."

"The women, too, but I was referring to the man you accosted back there."

"Him?" the third ruffian snarled. "Why would a pretty dame like you be friends with a scrawny little punk like that."

"Because that man has more character than the three of you put together," she said with a smirk. "You only wish you could be half the man he is."

"You're out of your mind, sweetheart," the first guy said. "Why don't you come along with us and we'll show what a real man is like."

Knowing that only a show of force would earn her any respect from these idiots, she pulled her arm back and punched the biggest one in the nose. The satisfying sound of cartilage crunching let her know that she'd succeeded in breaking his nose. Turning to the other two, she was pleased to see a look of fear in their eyes. "You'd better help your friend before he bleeds all over himself. And don't forget what I said. Leave him alone or I'll be back to finish what I started."

She watched them scurry down the path like the rats they were and she smiled as she dusted off her hands. Turning back to the Boathouse, she looked for Steve, but he was gone.

"Dammit," she muttered under her breath.

"Who are you?"

She spun around and was surprised to see Steve standing right behind her.

"Oh," he said, looking confused. "You're the gal from the club last night. YN, right?"

She held out her hand and gave him a warm smile. "YN YLN. It's a pleasure to finally meet you, Steve."

He looked down at her hand, but refused to shake it. Instead, he crossed his arms over his chest and glared at her. "How do you know who I am?"

"Bucky told me last night," she said, smiling through the lie.

"He may have told you my name, but you came to me first."

"You don't miss anything, do you?" she asked, impressed that even before he'd become a soldier, he'd been keenly aware of his surroundings.

"No ma'am, I don't." He straightened his shoulders the best he could and tried to look taller than he really was. "You told me last night that I was the only one who could help you. I thought you just wanted to get me to introduce you to Bucky, but you managed that just fine on your own." He narrowed his eyes at her. "Now you're following me. Who are you and what do you want?"

"Have a seat," she told him as she sat down on the bench again. She waited until he'd joined her before she started to speak again. "I don't really know how to explain this, but I do need your help, Steve. You are the only person who can help me right now."

His expression softened. "Are you in some kind of trouble?"

"No, not really," she hedged. "I need to go home, but I need your help to do that."

"Do you need money, a train ticket, what?"

"No, nothing like that," she said shaking her head. "This is going to sound crazy, but I need you pick me up tomorrow morning at 200 Park Avenue. Do you think you can remember that?"

His brows drew together in his signature look of disapproval and she wanted to lean over and kiss him. He'd never looked more like her Steve than he did in that very moment.

"You don't think I can remember to pick you up tomorrow morning?"

"Of course I think you can remember that," she said, trying to phrase her next words just right. "I just need to make sure you remember this moment for the rest of your life."

"I just watched you break some guys nose," he reminded her. "I won't be forgetting you for a long time."

"That's exactly what I wanted to hear," she said with a smile.

"So, do you have plans for the rest of the day, or would you like to go get some lunch with me?" He stood up and offered her his arm.

"Lunch sounds fantastic," she said as stood and slipped her arm through his. 

She knew she'd done what she'd set out to do, but a part of her felt sad that she and Bucky would be heading back home in the morning. Despite the stress of being thrown out of time, she'd had fun getting to know Bucky – both versions of him – as well as Steve and everyone back at Howard's house. She just hoped that whatever she and Bucky had started could continue once they were back in the twenty-first century.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _Thank you for reading Part 14 of this story! I hope you enjoyed it! Did anyone figure out what movie I stole SING from? What did you think of Bucky’s new attitude this morning? There’s nothing better for a man’s temperament than a good roll in the hay! She’s really starting to help him find himself again, but she finally got a chance to talk to Steve! What did you think of their encounter? Were you surprised that he was picking a fight with three guys or that he called her out on her BS? What do you think is going to happen now? Do you think she made enough of a impression for future Steve to remember her request to pick her up in the morning? I look forward to your comments!_


	15. Chapter 15

Spending the afternoon with Steve had been a joy.  He was the same funny, earnest man she'd known for almost a decade, and if she closed her eyes she could almost imagine that she was back in the twenty-first century.

She'd insisted on paying for lunch, much to his chagrin, but she knew money was tight for him and Bucky right now.  Howard had been very generous and had instructed Jarvis to give her whatever she needed, whether it be clothes, money, or transportation.  

After lunch, they'd taken the train to the shore and walked along the beach as they talked.  She told him as much about her life as she could without revealing the fact that she'd grown up in a era he wouldn't experience for another seventy years.  

As the sun began moving toward the western horizon, the temperatures began to cool down a bit.  Steve had reluctantly told her that he'd planned to have dinner at home with Bucky before going back out on the town.  She knew she should let him go and head back to Howard's, but she felt the urge to see the younger Bucky again.

"Let me take you both out for dinner tonight," she suggested as they boarded the train to take them back to Brooklyn.

"Bucky will never go for that," Steve told her with a shake of his head.  "Why don't you come back to our place and you can have dinner with us before we go dancing.  I know Buck won't mind."

She thought about it for a moment before nodding her head in agreement.  "Why not?  What do you guys normally eat for dinner?"

"Sometimes the guy at the butcher shop by the docks will give Bucky some of the older cuts of meat that didn't sell that day," Steve explained, looking a bit embarrassed.  "It's still good, but it's usually not the best cuts.  I usually boil some potatoes to go with it."

"I see," she said, trying not to turn her nose up at his culinary skills.  He hadn't been joking when he'd said they'd boiled everything.  "How about you let me cook for you guys tonight?"

"Really?"

"It's no probably.  Let's stop by the store so I can pick up a few things."

Steve had seemed reluctant to let her buy groceries for him and Bucky, but she waved away his concerns as she placed the items she wanted on the counter for the clerk to ring up.  Food seemed so ridiculously cheap, but she knew that the cost of living was actually higher than normal due to the war.  Remembering how tough she and Nat had had it for the past year on the run, she vowed never to take luxuries like a decent meal for granted again.

She was in the kitchen peeling and slicing the potatoes to scallop them when she and Steve heard the front door open.  A sudden bout of nervousness set in and she anxiously wiped her hands on the dish towel she'd draped over her shoulder.

"Hey punk," Bucky called out.  "Where are you?"

"I'm in the kitchen," Steve answered, giving YN a sly grin.  "You'll never guess who I ran into today at the park."

"Yeah, and who would that. . ." Bucky stopped mid sentence when he rounded the corner and saw her standing in the middle of his kitchen.  "YN?"

"Hello, Bucky," she said.

He gave her a confused look before turning back to Steve.  "I don't understand?"

"Steve and I spent the day together getting to know one another and he mentioned that he needed to get home to meet you for dinner," she explained with a smile.  "Steve invited to me join you, but I insisted that he let me cook."  She looked down at the white paper package in his hand.  "What did the butcher give you today?"

Bucky looked down at the package of meat in his hand like he'd never seen it before.  "Oh.  It's just a pork loin."

YN thought for a moment.  "Didn't I see a bag of rice, some chicken broth, and a can of beans in the cabinet, Steve?"  She took the pork loin from Bucky and began to unwrap it on the counter while Steve got the ingredients she'd asked for.  "Bucky, why don't you grab a pot and fill it about a third of the way full of water and put it on the stove to boil while I dice this pork."

The two men were eager to follow her every direction as she ordered them around the kitchen.  Less than an hour later they were sitting down at the table staring at the food before them as though they'd never eaten a home cooked meal before.  In addition to the scalloped potatoes, she'd combined the beans, rice, and diced pork into a skillet mixture that smelled heavenly.

"This looks amazing, doll," Bucky said as he looked back up at her in awe.

She couldn't help but grin when she heard the familiar term of endearment roll off of his tongue.  She'd given this version of him a hard time about it the night before, but only because he'd been so overbearing.  Letting it slide, she thanked him and grabbed her fork.

The compliments kept flowing as they kept eating, and even she had to admit that she'd outdone herself with the few meager ingredients she'd had to work with.  She'd made enough for them to have leftovers the next day, but both of them had gone back for seconds and had scraped the pans to get every last morsel on their plates.

When she started clearing the table, both men started protesting.  Not one to deny a man the opportunity to wash dishes, she gladly returned to her seat at the table and watched as they cleaned up the kitchen.

"Steve and I were going to go dancing again tonight," Bucky said as he scrubbed skillet in the sink.  "Would you like to join us?"

"Are you planning to dance tonight, Steve?" YN asked, thinking of him sitting all alone the night before while everyone else was having a good time.

"I don't really know how," he admitted with a sheepish look.

She wanted to offer to teach him what little she knew, but then she remembered Peggy.  He hadn't met her yet, but it would only be a few more weeks until he found the love of his life.  She'd grown up reading the stories about the two of them and the date they'd set right before he'd taken a nose-dive into the Arctic to save the world.

"You need to get on that, then," she said with a laugh, deciding to let the subject drop.

"No one wants to dance with a guy they might accidentally step on," Steve said with a shrug.

She rose from her chair and walked over to place her hands on his shoulders.  "One day you're going to meet a woman who sees you the way I do, and she's going to be the luckiest girl in the world."  She paused, knowing she shouldn't say anything else, but she couldn't help herself.  "Just make sure when you do meet her, you don't wait too long – grab on to happiness whenever you find it and don't let go until you have to."

"YN's right," Bucky agreed.  "There's a dame out there for you, pal."

She turned and gave him a chiding look.  

With his arms outstretched, he shrugged.  "Sorry.  There's a _lady_ out there for you, Steve."

Bucky quickly changed out of his work clothes and they headed out to the Three Deuces.  The music was just as lively as it had been the night before, and Bucky was just as eager to have her all to himself.  As much as she loved being in his arms on the dance floor, she was mindful of the fact that Steve was sitting by himself in a booth in a corner.  Every few songs, she'd insist they go back and have a few drinks while they talked to him so he wouldn't feel like a third wheel.

When the clock on the wall behind the bar read a quarter to ten, YN turned to Bucky with a sad smile.  She knew it was still early, but she had a date with the older version of him that she was eager to get started.

"I should probably be getting back," she said as the band started playing a slow song.

"You can't stay a little longer?" he asked as he pulled her closer to him.

"I wish I could, but I'm supposed to be heading home tomorrow morning," she explained.  "I probably won't see you again for a while."  It wasn't technically a lie, but she still felt a bit guilty not being honest with him.

"Is there an address where I can reach you?" he asked, his expression growing sad.  "We can write to one another."

She shook her head.  "No, I'm not sure where I'll end up."  At least that much was true.  She had no idea what she and Nat would do once she made it back.  Steve seemed to think that Tony had the Accords straightened out, but would he want the team to get back together again, or would they go their separate ways once the threat against Strange was taken care of?

"Can I walk you back to where you're staying at least?"

"It'll be a long walk to Manhattan," she teased with a smile.  "I wouldn't mind some company on the train, though."

"Let's drop off Steve back at the apartment and then I'll make sure you get home safely," he said as the song started to end.  "You won't run off again if I kiss you, will you?"

She didn't answer, choosing instead to wrap her arms tighter around his neck and pull him closer to her.  When their lips met again, she was prepared for the onslaught of emotions.  The body pressed against hers wasn't the same, but the lips were, and at that moment, they were all she could focus on.

 

"Don't forget about tomorrow, Steve," YN reminded him as he walked up the steps to the door of the building he and Bucky lived in.

"Of course not," he said with a nod.  "What time did you want me to pick you up?"

"How about eight?  Is that too early?"

"Not at all."

She gave him a sad smile as she walked up the steps.  Wrapping her arms around his tiny frame, she gave him a hug.  "You're a good friend, Steve Rogers."  She pulled back and brushed her hands down the lapels of his khaki overcoat.  "I'll see you in the morning."

She and Bucky waved goodbye to Steve and headed for the train that would take them to Manhattan.  The train was mostly deserted, so they spent their time wrapped in one another's arms as they bumped along the track.  

Park Avenue had a decent crowd even this late at night, so Bucky had pulled her close to him to keep her safe.  When he reached down and threaded his fingers through hers, she'd smiled and leaned into him.  

"I had a great time tonight, Bucky," she told him as they strolled along the sidewalk.

"Me too, doll," he said as he leaned down and gently kissed her.

"You're one of the kindest men I've ever met."

He looked over at her in surprise.  "What brought this on?"

She thought about the man waiting for her at Howard's house and she hoped that he was paying attention to this memory.  "Sometimes it's easy to get caught up in what's going on in the world around you and you forget who you are."  She stopped walking and moved to stand in front of him.  "You are a good man, James Buchanan Barnes, and the world is lucky to have you.  Don't ever let anyone tell you that you're not worth fighting for – that you're not worth saving."

His brows knit together in confusion.  "Not to sound conceited, but I think I'm a pretty decent man."  He gave her a little smirk and cocked his head to the side.  "I might flirt with the ladies a little too much, but that's all just for fun."

She rolled her eyes as she started to laugh.  "Just promise me you'll never change."  She knew it was a promise he'd never be able to keep, but it wasn't so much for the man standing in front of her as it was for the version of himself that had seemed to have forgotten these simple truths about himself.

"I promise, doll," he told her, his tone as sincere as he could make it.

She took his hand and started walking again.  When they came to Howard's house, she looked up at the front door with dread in her heart.  She knew it was ridiculous not to want to say goodbye to him when she knew perfectly well that he would be waiting for her on the other side of the door.  Still, though, it felt like she was saying goodbye to someone she might never see again.  Looking into his beautiful blue-grey eyes, she hoped that her Bucky would remember the night they'd shared tonight and that this new memory of her would help him realize that he was still the man he used to be.

"Well, this is me," she said with a sad smile.

He looked up at the impressive building and shook his head.  "You have some interesting friends, you know that?  I can't figure out why you'd come all the way to Brooklyn to spend time with me and Steve when you can be hobnobbing with the fancy folks in Manhattan."

"I prefer men with character over men with money," she said with a shrug before she leaned in and gave him a kiss.  The words had barely left her lips when she realized what she'd said.  Deep down she knew that Tony wasn't like other conceited rich men, but he'd spent years playing with her emotions and that spoke volumes about his character.  He wasn't a bad guy, but he'd used her feelings for him to sway her to his way of thinking too often over the years.  For some reason, she didn't think Bucky would ever treat her that way.  Maybe it was time to finally let go of her toxic obsession with a man that would never love her and take a chance on someone who just might.

She brought her focus back to Bucky.  "When you get home tonight, make sure to remind Steve to come get me in the morning."

"Whatever you say, doll."  He leaned in and kissed her again, this time a little more passionately.

After a few minutes, she pulled away with a sigh and ran her hands over his smooth face.  "Take care of yourself, Bucky Barnes.  And remember your promise."

"Yes, ma'am," he said as he took a step backwards.  

She walked up the steps, but paused just before she opened the door.  He was still at the bottom of the steps waiting to make sure she got in the house safely.  With a wave, she stepped into the foyer and closed the door behind her.  Leaning against it, she screwed her eyes shut to keep the tears from forming.  It wasn't really goodbye, but for some reason she couldn't make herself see reason.

Looking up toward the second floor landing at the top of the main staircase, she knew what she needed to ease her aching heart.  Taking the steps two at a time, she raced to her room.  When she opened the door, he was waiting for her.

Neither of them said a word as they fell into one another's arms.  When she felt the cool touch of the vibranium hand against her skin, she let out a sigh.  She was finally where she knew she belonged.

Just as he'd promised that morning, he'd helped her out of her garter and stockings, and she'd thought she was going to die of frustration before he'd finished.  With every caress of his hands, and kiss of his lips, he'd reminded her of the ways she'd tormented him that evening.

"That was for cooking me dinner," he said as he trailed a hand up the inside of thigh, stopping just short of where she needed his touch the most.

"I promise I'll never do it again," she said with a smirk as she lay on the bed beneath him.

He gave her a dirty look and started to tickle her feet.  "That's for being a smartass."

"Okay, okay, okay," she said, begging him to stop.

He relented with a smile as he leaned over and began to kiss along her jaw, refusing meet her lips with his own.  "That was for teasing me on the dance floor."

"Bucky, please," she pleaded, desperate for him to touch her – to kiss her – the way she needed him to.

Framing her face in his hands, he looked deep into her eyes before finally kissing her tenderly.  "That was for reminding me of who I really am."

"The world is a better place with you in it," she told him as she ran her thumbs over his cheeks, her fingers laying against the nape of his neck.

"You've almost got me believing it."

"I won't stop reminding you until you accept it as the truth."

"Is that a promise?" he asked.

She could tell he was trying to sound flippant, but she'd been able to see the worry in his eyes.  She almost wished that she could stay in 1942 a little longer so she could spend some more time helping him to see himself the way that she did.  Her interactions with the younger version of him seemed to be opening doors within him that had long been shut.  With a few more days, or even a week or two, she was sure Bucky would start remembering who he really was.

Shaking her head to clear her thoughts, she knew it was useless to wish for something that couldn't happen.  Steve would be there in the morning with Strange to take them back to their own time and she would just have make sure that she stayed by his side.  A few days ago, that prospect would have almost scared her, but now she realized that she wanted to be with him – both as a friend and a lover.

"I'm not going anywhere, Buck," she finally answered, pulling him down so she could kiss him again.

The passion between them ignited and all conversation was forgotten as they focused on bringing the other as much pleasure as they could possibly manage in one night.

 

When she'd awoken the next morning, she'd been sad to realize the bed was empty.  Rolling onto her side, she looked around the room for him.  She had a moment of confusion when she saw him sitting in one of wing backed chairs.

"What are you doing?" she asked as she sat up and drew the sheet up to her chest.

"Getting dressed," he told her as he finished lacing his boots up.  "It's almost eight o'clock.  Steve should be here soon, so you should probably get some clothes on."

"This is it, isn't it?" she asked as she rose from the bed and grabbed the neat stack of tactical gear Ana had washed and folded for her again.  "We're really going home today."

He stood up and grabbed her hips, pulling her close to him for a kiss.  She dropped the clothes and wrapped her arms around his neck.

"Have I told you how sexy this new look is on you?"

"I'm pretty partial to the look you've got going on right now," he teased as his gaze raked over her naked body.

"Think we've got time for. . .?" she didn't finish her thought, letting her wagging eyebrows convey her sentiments for her.

He let out a groan of frustration as he kissed her forehead and took a step back.  "If Steve comes back and finds us canoodling in bed instead of waiting for him, I'll never hear the end of it."

"Steve is a stick in the mud," she said with a wink as she bent over to get her clothes.  "We've really got to get him a girlfriend.  As much as I love him, he can't be our third wheel forever."

She'd already started dressing, so she didn't notice the way Bucky froze and stared at her.  He'd wanted to believe that whatever was going on between them would continue once they got home, but until that moment, he wasn't sure she would be ready for anything more serious.

He started to say something, but was interrupted by a knock on the door.

"Go see who that is while I finish dressing," she told him as she grabbed her clothes and walked toward the bathroom.

Opening the door, Bucky found Jarvis waiting on the other side looking a bit worried.  "What's the matter?"

"There's a Steven Rogers at the front door asking for Ms. YLN," Jarvis said, nodding toward the stairs leading to the front entrance.  "I had Ana take him back to the kitchen for a glass of water.  The poor man looked as though he was going to pass out on the stoop. Seriously, a man suffering from the multitude of ailments I suspect he has shouldn't be out walking around on his own."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _Thank you for reading Part 15 of this story!  I hope you enjoyed it! Don’t you just love pre-serum Steve! He’s such a sweetie and I’ve really enjoyed writing him and younger Bucky! So, we figured out her plan to help Bucky was to make him remember how amazing he is through his interactions with her. Do you think it’s working? The two of them are starting to grow really attached to the other, but do you think they’ll be able to continue their relationship once they get back to the 21st Century? As for that, you guys thought they were really going home at the end of this part, didn’t you? It looks like the wrong Steve Rogers showed up at the door! What do you think they’re going to do now? I look forward to your comments!_


	16. Chapter 16

"What?" YN asked as she stuck her head around the bathroom door.  "What did he look like? Five foot four, or over six feet tall?"

"I think five foot four is a bit of stretch, but he's nowhere near six feet, " Jarvis said with a huff.  "Should I tell him you'll be down shortly?"

YN's mouth was hanging open in shock, so Bucky answered for her.  "Have Ana stall him for a bit.  YN will be down in a minute."

Once the door was shut, she came out of the bathroom in a rage.  "I'm going to kill him."

"Doll," Bucky said, trying to calm her down.

"That idiot couldn't follow one simple direction," she fumed as she began to rip off her tactical gear.  "What are you standing around for?  Help me find a dress to wear.  Lord knows I can't go walking around New York looking like this."

Bucky grabbed the first dress he found in the wardrobe and shoved it toward YN.  As she hurriedly buttoned it up, he grabbed the garter.

She swatted his hand away.  "We don't have time for that," she said with a huff.  "And anyway, if you start putting those stockings on me, I won't be held responsible for the way I'll react."

He sat back in the chair and smiled up at her.  "Has anyone ever told you how sexy you are when you're angry?"

She shot him a glare out of the corner of her eye as she leaned over to buckle the strap on her heel.  "You're pushing it Barnes."

Bucky couldn't help himself.  When she straightened up, he was at her back in an instant, pulling her towards him as he wrapped one arm around her waist and the other tilted her head back to meet his lips.  As his hand drifted up her body, he could feel the pounding of her heart as passion threatened to overtake them again.

She'd reached behind her to grip his thighs as he ravished her mouth.  She was a passionate woman who'd been denied the pleasures of the flesh for far too long, but she was quickly coming to learn that he was just as fiery as she was.  After a moment she'd grown restless – needing to feel more of him beneath her hands – and had twisted around in his embrace.  Burying her hands in his hair, she lightly bit his bottom lip.

"Ow," he said as he pulled away slightly.  "Is that how it's going to be?"  He took a step back from her and was pleased to hear a groan of frustration from her.  "Just wait until you get home tonight."

"Don't threaten me with a good time," she teased as she grabbed her handbag and started for the door.

"You're going to be death of me.  You know that, right?"

She paused at the door to turn around and give him a smirk.  "The only person that's going to die today is Steve Rogers.  If big Steve shows up, punch him in the nose for me."  She took a deep breath and closed her eyes.  "I have no idea what I'm going to tell little Steve."

"Tell him your trip got delayed for a day," Bucky suggested.

"I can't believe he showed up here."

"He was going to show up here one way or the other, doll."

YN looked at him in confusion.  It took her a few moments to figure out what Bucky had meant.  "Of course he was going to come here.  He won't understand that message for another seventy years."  She paused and dropped her head.  "If big Steve actually does come back for us, little Steve is going to show up one day and I won't be here."

Bucky walked across the room and took her into his arms.  "He'll understand."  He thought for a moment.  "Why don't you write him a letter and then Jarvis can give it to him once we're back in the twenty-first century?"

She leaned into his embrace and let out a sigh.  "That's a good idea.  I'll do that later today."

"What are you and Steve going to do today?"

"I have no idea," she said.  "I'll let him decide."

YN kissed Bucky goodbye and started downstairs toward the kitchen.  She wasn't the least bit surprised to find Ana sitting in front of Steve at the small table looking completely smitten.

"Sorry to keep you waiting, Steve," she said as she entered the room.

"It's okay," he said, rising to his feet.  "Mrs. Jarvis. . ."

"Ana," the redhead interrupted.

". . .Ana was keeping me company." Steve gave her a warm smile before he started walking across the room.  "Were you ready?"

"About that," YN began, hating that she was going to have to lie to him yet again.  "My trip has been postponed, unfortunately."

"Oh," Steve said, looking crestfallen.  "Will you be leaving tomorrow then, or another day?"

"Honestly, I'm not sure," she hedged.  "There's another gentleman that is in charge of all the travel arrangements, but he must be otherwise occupied at the moment."

Steve looked confused.  "So, do you still need me to pick you then?"

"Yes, absolutely."  She chose her next words carefully.  "You'll be acting as my escort for the trip, but this other gentleman will be providing the means of transport."

"Do I know him?" Steve asked, genuinely curious about this mysterious trip YN was taking.

"He has a Strange name," she said, brushing off his question with a wave of her hand.  "You won't be able to remember it."

"Well, I guess if you won't be needing my help. . ."

She could see that he was ready to leave, so she reached out a hand to stop him.  "If you don't have any other plans today, I'd like to spend the day with you again.  If that's alright."

The light in his eyes brightened as he thought about showing YN more of the city.  "I'd love that."

"Wonderful," she said before turning to Ana who'd gone back to the stove to finish breakfast.  "I probably won't be back for dinner again tonight, Ana, but the gentleman upstairs will be here all day.  Would you mind checking in on him for me?"

Knowing that Sergeant Barnes' presence in the house was supposed to be a secret, Ana answered cryptically.  "I showed him the library yesterday, so I'm sure he'll go back there again today while you're out.  But don't worry, I'll make sure he eats."

"Thank you, Ana," YN said as she took Steve's arm and headed for the front entryway.

"Who's the gentlemen upstairs?" Steve asked as he peered up the stairs once they were in the foyer.

"He's an old friend of mine," she said with a smile.  "He was injured in the war and doesn't come out into public much these days."

He opened the door for her and they began walking down the stairs to the street.  "There are a lot of guys coming back from the war like that."

"And yet you keep trying to enlist."

Steve turned to look at her, surprise written all over his face.  "Bucky told you, huh?"

"Yeah."

"I feel like I should be over there doing my part."

YN could tell that his words were a well-used line that he repeated often.  She understood his frustration.  The Accords had tied her and Nat's hands for the past year, but even they'd risked exposure to take out a few threats on their nights off from the bar.  People like her and Steve could never be content to sit on the sidelines for too long while other people were out there making a difference in the world.

"You'll get your chance," she told him as they walked toward the train station.  "I'm sure of it."

She and Steve had taken the train back to Brooklyn where he'd insisted they go to the museum.  She'd just been there the day before, but seeing it again through his eyes was an experience she hadn't been expecting.  He'd brought his sketchbook and had been content to sit in front of one of the sculptures and draw while she wandered around the room looking at the various paintings hanging on the walls.

When she'd come back to where he'd been sitting, she was surprised to see a drawing of herself, her hands clasped behind her back as she peered up at a work of art.  He'd managed to capture her likeness better than any camera ever had and the beauty of the simple drawing took her breath away.

"Would you like it?" he asked when he saw her admiring the drawing from over his shoulder.

She wanted to say yes so badly, but she realized that this may be the key she and Bucky needed to help Steve see the truth of who she was in the future.  By some miracle, if he could hold onto this picture, then he'd realize that the woman he would meet in seventy years was the one he'd met a few days ago in a club in Brooklyn.  She knew some of his artwork had survived after his "death" and was currently on display in the Smithsonian.  Wouldn't it be something if she got back to her time and discovered that this picture was hanging on the wall of a museum?

"Why don't you hold on to that?" she suggested.  "It'll be something for you and Bucky to remember me by once I have to go back home."

He nodded and closed the book.  Looking down at his watch, he noted the time.    "If we go eat lunch now, we can catch a matinee showing of _Mrs. Miniver_ at the cinema near our apartment.  Have you seen it yet?"

YN shook her head.  She was familiar with the Greer Garson film that had won not only an Academy Award for Best Picture, but also won the actress her only Oscar for Best Actress.  "I haven't, but I'd love to."

They'd gone to the same diner they'd eaten at the day before.  The waitresses there seemed to know Steve, and YN wondered if he ate here everyday.  They all gave YN scrutinizing looks when they recognized her from yesterday.  What she'd mistaken for politeness yesterday became clear to her today as fondness for the small man.  They saw him as someone to be coddled and taken care of, and YN couldn't fault them for that, but she knew that in a few weeks they'd be seeing him in a whole new light.  She knew they were all suspicious of her, and she was grateful that Steve had people in his life that were looking out for him when Bucky wasn't around.  Steve liked to think he could take care of himself, but the fact of the matter was, he was sickly and weak, and he needed to be more careful when it came to picking fights with men twice his size.

"So, who's your lady friend, Stevie?" a waitress with a name tag that read "Ruth" asked as she came to pour them a couple cups of coffee.

"This is Bucky's new girl, YN," he said with a smile.  "I'm showing her around town until she has to head back home."

Ruth nodded her head, but YN could see the look of sadness on her face.  The waitress had been hoping that YN had been Steve's girl.  She was sure Ruth knew who Bucky was and probably knew that he went through women like most men went through socks.  YN wanted to tell her that Bucky wasn't like that anymore, but she kept her mouth shut and smiled graciously at the waitress.

"Where's home, sweetie?" Ruth asked as she propped a hand on her hip and gave her a once over.

Where was home these days?  It wasn't Prague anymore, and her parents had made it clear years ago that the Park Avenue penthouse she'd grown up in wasn't open to her any longer.  She'd thought that she'd found a home in the Avengers Tower with the team, but that hadn't lasted for long either.   The truth was that she was homeless.  If the team didn't get back together once she returned, she had no idea where she and Bucky would end up.  All she knew was that she wanted to be wherever he was.

"I'm in between places right now," she answered as truthfully as she could.  "I'm hoping that once I get back to my friends they'll have a place for me again."

"This war's got everyone in a frenzy right now," Ruth said with a shake of her head.  "Well, sweetie, I hope you get things figured out, but until then, you couldn't be in better hands than with Stevie here."

Smiling at Ruth's assessment, she couldn't help but agree.  "You can say that again.  He's been such a dear to keep me company the past few days, and he's going to help me get back home once all of the details have been ironed out.  He and Bucky are just the best."

"Hmph," Ruth said with a shake of her head.  "That Bucky Barnes is the most notorious skirt-chaser in all of Brooklyn.  Sweet boy, don't get me wrong, but he's more of the love 'em and leave 'em type if you know what I mean."

"Now Ruth," Steve said, not willing to let anyone speak badly of his best friend.  "Bucky's not a bad guy."

"I never said he was a bad person," Ruth clarified.  "I just said he loved the ladies a bit too much.  YN seems like a nice girl.  I'd hate to see her get her heart broken by that scamp you call a best friend."

YN couldn't help the peel of laughter that burst out of her.  "If anyone's going to get their heart broken, it'll be Bucky."

Ruth nodded her head as a smile spread across her face.  Turning to Steve she said, "I like this one.  She's fiery.  It'll serve Bucky right to finally get a taste of his own medicine."

Ruth turned and went back to the kitchen to check on their order leaving Steve and YN alone again.  Steve played with the cup of coffee for a few moments before looking back up at YN.

"You're not really going to break his heart, are you?"

YN's smile faded when she realized that Steve was serious.  She wanted to assure him that her feelings for Bucky were real, but once she started to think about it, she realized something she hadn't thought of.  Just like she hadn't considered what would happen to this Steve once she and Bucky were gone, she hadn't really thought about how this Bucky would take her sudden disappearance.  She'd tried to warn him that she wouldn't be able to contact him, but that wasn't even the half of it.  Once she went back to her own time, there would be no record of her ever existing in 1942.  He would spend the next three years at war wondering why she never even tried to contact him.  

All of a sudden, her plan to get her and Bucky back home seemed incredibly selfish.  She was endearing herself to these two amazing men knowing that tomorrow – hopefully – she'd cease to exist in their lives.  What would they think of her once they both realized the truth seventy or eighty years from now. Would they resent the way she used them, or would they understand why she'd had to take the actions she had? 

She realized that Steve was waiting for an answer, but she didn't really have one for him.  "That's not my intention.  I hope you know that, Steve."

Steve reached across the table and took her hand.  "We both know you have to leave soon."

She squeezed his hand gently, careful not to hurt him.  "You know that, but does Bucky?"

They changed the topic of conversation once their meal had arrived and soon they were laughing and joking again.  YN couldn't help but to keep coming back to her realization about the boys, though.  She knew there was no other way for her and Bucky to get back home, but she was terrified of what they would think of her once they had all of their memories.  Right now she was pretty sure that Bucky didn't remember what wartime had been like after meeting her, and she wasn't exactly sure when he would get those new memories.  Would they hit him like a ton of bricks once they returned to the future, or would it be a gradual process?  His mind was already so fragile from the years of abuse at the hands of HYDRA, not to mention whatever they'd done to him in Wakanda to restore the memories that had been stolen from him.  How would his brain react to this new mind alteration?

She'd sat in the darkened movie theater with Steve and tried to concentrate on the film, but worry was like a stone sitting heavily in her gut.  She spent the entire movie plotting out different ways to warn them of what was going to happen, but every possibility held too much risk.  She wished that she could just tell them the truth, but they'd never believe her and by the time they realized she hadn't been lying, the damage would already be done.

The more she thought about the boys heading off to war, the more she realized that she wanted to change history.  She'd always wondered what would have happened if Steve had given Peggy the coordinates of his plane before he'd gone down in the Arctic.  She knew he wanted to keep the weapon Johann Schmidt had created out of the hands of those that might misuse it, but he'd sacrificed himself to do it and HYDRA had still continued to thrive.  

And then there was Bucky.  

The more she got to know him – both versions of him – the harder she was starting to fall for him.  She was doing her best to help the older version of himself find some peace again, but if he never became the Winter Soldier. . . Her breath caught in her throat.  If he never became the Winter Soldier, then he might not still be alive in the future.  If Zola never experimented on him, he would never receive the serum Zola had tried to replicate.  The Bucky she knew right now might die as soon as Steve came back to get them.  

Bucky had been willing to kill himself, or at least this version of himself, to keep the Winter Soldier program from moving forward, and she'd listed a multitude of ways that plan would fail.  But that was before Bucky had started to matter to her.  Now that she was on the verge of falling in love with him – and she was, she was woman enough to admit that to herself – her perspective had changed.  Could she really live with herself knowing that she was sending that sweet, innocent man into the hands of madmen that would torture and abuse him for decades?  Would he still look at her the same once this was all over and his new memories gave him a different perspective of the past?

She could have sat there all day long and worried herself to death about the different decisions she had to make in the next few hours or days, but her thoughts were interrupted by Steve's voice.  As she focused herself back into the present, she realized that he was yelling at someone.

"I said you need to show a little respect," Steve was saying to the man sitting directly behind them.

"What's your problem, punk?" the man asked with a sneer.  "All I said was that Greer had a nice rear."

YN watched as the man turned to his buddy and elbowed him playfully in the ribs as they both cracked up at his joke.  She was disgusted with his crudeness, but there really wasn't much she could do in a crowded theater.

"If you don't shut up, I'll make you," Steve threatened.

YN's stomach dropped.  Bucky had warned her that Steve liked to pick fights with brutes in the alley behind this theater and she was scared she was witnessing one of those incidents firsthand.

"How about me and you go outside and settle this like men?"

Steve immediately jumped up out of his seat and turned to YN.  "Stay here.  I'll be right back."

"Steve," YN called out, but he was already heading for the exit.  

The brute behind them had already started to follow Steve and YN saw his friend start to get up.  Knowing that Steve was no match for one guy, let alone two, she ignored his directive and followed the men out of the theater.  Her Steve would have had her ass for disobeying a direct order, but Steve wasn't the Captain yet, and she didn't have to follow orders from him.  If she didn't save him right now, she mused, there might not be a Captain to take orders from in the future.

By the time she exited the theater, Steve already had a black eye and was bleeding from his lip.  The first guy was laughing at his buddy and YN could tell from the way they were circling Steve that this fight was about to get nasty.  

"Step away from my friend before I have to hurt you," she warned as she positioned herself in front of Steve.

"You?"

She realized how ridiculous she looked in her heels and dress.  She would have given anything to have her tactical gear about now – either that or Bucky with his vibranium arm.  They wouldn't look down their noses at her if she had a few weapons strapped to her thighs and a former assassin that could smash their ugly faces with one well-aimed punch.

Weapons.

She looked down at her hands for a moment.  She did have weapons, just not the kind she was used to fighting with.  She thought about the power within Bucky's metal arm and wondered if she could use her magic to imitate it.  Taking a deep breath, she focused her energy and conjured a magical glove that surrounded her hand.  With a smile on her face, she reared back and slammed her magically enhanced fist in the face of one of the men.

She heard the sound of bone and cartilage smashing as blood spurted in all directions from her hit.  Taking a step back, she drew in a sharp breath when the man fell to the ground with his face in his hands, an unearthly scream emanating from both him and his friend.

"What the hell kind of witch are you?" the uninjured man asked in horror as he helped his buddy to his feet and started running for the street.

Steve had been silent since she'd come out of the theater, but once the men were gone, he tentatively took her hands in his and looked deep within her eyes.  "Who are you?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _Thank you for reading Part 16 of this story! I hope you enjoyed it!   Well, it looks like we’ll be in 1942 for a little while longer. Any theories as to why Steve didn’t come back for them? Do you think the picture he drew of her will help him remember her? She came to some shocking revelations in this part. She has the power to change the future for both of them, but should she? Do you think either Steve or Bucky will hold it against her if she does? What about if she doesn’t? Do you think Steve saw her use her magic, or is he just in awe of a woman that can break noses with one punch? I look forward to your comments!_


	17. Chapter 17

YN's mouth went dry.  How on earth was she going to explain magic to Steve?  The man she knew had been shocked to learn about her abilities, but he'd also been exposed to his own transformation, Red Skull, Loki, and the Chitari.  The man standing before her right now would be floored to know the truth about her.

Steve was still looking at her hands.  "Bucky is the only person I know that can knock a man down with just one punch.  Where did you learn to fight like that?"

She cocked her head and studied him.  He seemed to be in awe of her, but not fearfully so.  Was it possible that he hadn't noticed the magical glove she'd conjured?  

"I've taken a few self-defense courses," she said, waiting expectantly to see if he would buy her story.

"Self-defense courses?" Steve asked, a little confused.  "Why would you need to know how to defend yourself?  Isn't that the job of the man you're with?"

She wanted to throttle him, but she held back.  "A woman can't always depend on a man to be around when she needs help.  There's nothing wrong with learning how to throw a few well-aimed punches to make sure some creep knows not to mess with you."

"You don't have to keep doing that, though," Steve said, giving her a hard look.  "I can take care of myself."

She reached up and cupped his cheek.  "I know you can, Steve, but sometimes taking care of yourself is also admitting when you need help.  I don't like seeing you all bruised and bloody." 

"How did you get to be so smart?"

She smiled and shrugged her shoulders.  "Years of experience, I guess."  She looped her arm through his and began leading him out of the alley.  "Now let's go back to your place and get you cleaned up.  Bucky won't let me hang around you anymore if he knows I keep letting you get into fights."

"Oh, don't worry about that," Steve said as they walked down the sidewalk.  "Bucky's used to me coming home looking like this just about every day."

"Steven Grant Rogers," she said, shaking her head.  "Promise me you'll never change."

He turned to look at her and gave her a huge smile.  She began laughing and shook her head as they started up the steps to his shared apartment with Bucky.

Once they'd gotten inside, she'd made him take a seat at the kitchen table while she'd made an ice pack for his eye and got a damp rag to wipe the blood from his face.  "You need to take better care of this face, Rogers.  You're too handsome to have scars."

She saw the blush forming on his cheeks, and it warmed her heart to know that some things never changed.  She'd witnessed those same cheeks growing red every time some woman on the street had made a risqué comment toward him.  It always amazed her that someone that looked like a Greek god could be so humble, but now that she'd witnessed firsthand how he'd spent the first twenty-four years of his life, it made perfect sense to her.

"I'm not joking when I say that you're going to meet a woman that will see you for who you are," she told him as she crouched down in front of him with her hands on his knees.  "You are one of the best men I've ever known, and just because people don't take the time to see that now doesn't mean they'll always overlook you."  She squeezed his legs and stood.  "You're meant for great things, Steve, you just have to be patient for a little while longer."

He looked up at her through one crystal blue eye – the other hidden behind the ice pack.  "You always seem so sure of what you're saying.  It's almost like you know something that none of the rest of us do."

She gave him a flirty smile and a lopsided shrug.  "Maybe I'm psychic, or maybe I just see things from a different perspective."  She paused and gave him a once-over.  "You look exhausted.  Why don't you go lie down for a while and I'll wait here until Bucky gets home from work."

"You two should go out by yourselves tonight," Steve said as he made his way back to the room he shared with Bucky.  "Especially if this turns out to be your last night here."

He didn't wait for her to answer as he shut the door.  The thought of spending a night with Bucky alone made her nervous, but she couldn't figure out why.  She'd spent the past few nights sleeping beside him – making love to him – but this seemed like a whole other level in their relationship.  

She puttered around the apartment, tidying up and looking through the stacks of books and bric-a-brac strewn throughout the tiny space.  Her nerves were starting to get frayed by the time she heard footsteps in the hallway outside the door.  Rubbing her hands on her thighs, she walked over and opened the door.

Bucky's eyes were wide with surprise when he saw her standing in front of him.  "Doll.  I thought you would be gone by now."

"Plans changed," she told him as she moved out of the way so he could come in.  "Steve's lying down.  We had another busy day today, so he needed some rest."

"Did he want to go out with us tonight?" Bucky asked as he put the package of meat the butcher had given him in the refrigerator.

"No," she said as her nerves started acting up again.  "He thought that since this might really be my last night in town that you and I should go out alone.  If you don't want to. . ."

"I'd love to," he interrupted as he walked up to her and leaned in to give her a kiss.  "Let me go change and then I'll take you out for a nice dinner.  You look too pretty to stay in tonight."

As he walked back toward the bedroom, she looked down at the dress she was wearing.  A smile flitted at the corners of her mouth when she remembered that he'd been the one to pick it out that morning.  Her nervous anxiety had been replaced with excitement, but there was still a little voice in the back of her mind reminding her that allowing him to grow too attached to her was only going to make things harder on him – on both versions of him – once she pulled her disappearing act.

She weighed her options carefully for the next few minutes waiting on Bucky to change.  She could slowly start pulling back from him and spare him any potential heartbreak once she was gone, or she could do her best to shower him with as much love and affection in the hopes that it would somehow make his future suffering less horrible.  But then she thought about her Bucky.  She'd been amazed at the difference in his personality the longer that they stayed in 1942, and she was sure it had something to do with her interactions with the younger version of him.  If she pulled away from him now, would it do more harm than good?

Her mind was made up the second he walked back into the living room.  He'd put on a suit – probably the only one he owned – and he absolutely took her breath away.  He'd straightened up his hair, and while it wasn't the long chestnut locks that she loved to run through her fingers, it was still just as full and lush.  He was wearing a crisp white dress shirt with a diagonally striped tie under a pinstriped vest and suit jacket.  The pants were the same pinstripe pattern and had a razor-sharp crease down the front of each leg and he'd put on a pair of shoes so shiny she could almost see her reflection in them.

"You're going to get arrested," she said as she raked her gaze over him yet again.

"What?"

She shook her head and grabbed the lapels of his jacket to pull him close to her.  "You're going to be killing all the ladies."

His lips turned up in a smile as he leaned in to kiss her.  "You're the only lady I'm worried about tonight."

"Just tonight?" she asked, giving him a sultry smile.

He ran a finger down her cheek.  "I know I just met you, but I have a feeling you're the only woman that's going to be on my mind for the foreseeable future."

She bit her lip to keep her from saying what she wanted to say, but it didn't stop her from thinking it.  How she wished she could see the look on her Bucky's face right now.  She imagined that he was either rolling his eyes at how corny he sounded, or he was astounded at his own foresight.  

"I'd better be," she said with a wink.  "Now where exactly are we going tonight?"

"There's a supper club over in Queens that caters more towards couples looking for a romantic night out," he explained as they walked out of the apartment and down the steps to the street.  "It has soft lighting, amazing food, and the music is a little quieter and a lot slower than the other clubs."

"And how many other women have you taken there, Bucky Barnes?" she asked giving him a look of feigned jealousy.

He shook his head as a wide grin spread across his face.  "None, I swear.  A buddy of mine from down at the docks told me about it, but I've never met a girl I wanted to take there until now."

She could feel her heart swelling.  She knew he was a charmer, but she wanted to believe that he wasn't just using a line on her.  She was pretty sure the older version of him was on the same page as she was, but this younger version was a little harder to read.  Was it wrong of her to want them both to fall in love with her, especially since she was falling in love with both of them?

They'd ended up taking the train to Queens and she'd ended up plastered against him in the crowded car.  Bucky had wasted no time in taking advantage of the situation as he wrapped his arms around her and held her even closer than necessary.  She had her back to him, but in the close confines of the train, she could still smell the scent that was uniquely him.  By now, she'd realized that it wasn't a cologne or a certain type of soap, but simply him that smelled so amazing to her.  Leaning back against his chest, she closed her eyes and breathed in that intoxicating aroma. 

The supper club was everything he'd said and more.  He'd treated her to a lovely dinner and then spent the rest of the night slow dancing with her.  The music was just an excuse to give young lovers a chance to be in one another's arms all night long without facing any censure, but YN wasn't complaining.  If this really was her last night in 1942, she wanted to give Bucky as many happy memories as she possibly could before he shipped off to war and the fate that awaited him at the hands of HYDRA.  

She could have stayed in Bucky's arms all night long, but she knew she needed to get back to Howard's before it got too late.  Her Bucky would be waiting up for her and she wanted to spend some more time with him before they were forced back into reality.  

With a heavy heart, she asked Bucky to take her back to Manhattan.  She saw the disappointment in his eyes, and it was almost enough to break her resolve, but she held firm.  

On the train ride back to Howard's, she wrapped her arms around his waist and laid her head on his shoulder.  She wanted to etch this memory into her mind forever.  She hadn't wanted to let go of him as they'd exited the train and headed up Park Avenue, but she'd had to settle for sliding one arm around his waist as he wrapped one around hers.  

"This is you, doll," Bucky said once they'd reached the stairs leading up to Howard's.

She looked up at the door with its stained glass window at the top glowing from the lights from within the house.  Delaying the inevitable, she turned to Bucky and framed his face in her hands.

"The war will be coming for you soon," she told him with a sad smile.  "I know you'll be brave, but I still worry about you."

"The war is coming for all of us," he told her as he wrapped his arms around her waist and drew her closer to him.  "But as long as I've got you waiting for me back here, I won't worry about a thing."

His words broke her heart.  She wanted to tell him that she would be waiting for him, but that wasn't exactly the truth.  To him, it would seem like she'd abandoned him, and he wouldn't learn the truth until years later, but she wouldn't know who he was – wouldn't know what they'd shared.  If time truly was a loop that continuously ran over and over again, he would always go off to war thinking that she didn't truly love him and seventy years later, he would have to watch her pine for a man who didn't love her until they could be reunited here and now.  It was both tragic and beautiful, but it was the life they were destined to live.

Kissing him one last time, she debated telling him how she felt about him.  She held off, though, because he wasn't the one who needed to hear those words the most.  Pulling away, she smiled at him and started up the stairs.

"I'll tell Steve to be by in the morning to get you," he called after her.

"I'll be looking for him," she said as she turned the key in the lock and walked into the foyer.  Turning back at the last second, she said, "Take care of yourself, Bucky.  War is hell, but you're made of tougher stuff than you give yourself credit for."

"Yes, ma'am," he said with a salute and a cocky grin.

She watched him walk away before shutting the door and heading up the stairs.  Pausing outside of the bedroom she shared with Bucky, she took a moment to try to compose herself before she faced him again.  She knew it was silly to try to hide her emotions from him, but he'd only feel more guilty if he knew how badly her heart was aching.

When she finally opened the door, he was waiting for her, and she could tell from the look on his face that she'd done a horrible job of hiding her sadness from him on the street.  Without a word, he pulled her into his embrace.  She wrapped her arms around him and just held on.

Eventually he'd bent down and scooped her into his arms.  Carrying her over to the sitting area, he'd cradled her in his lap as he sat on the small sofa.  His hands rubbed gentle circles over her back as he murmured comforting words in her ear.

"I can't just sit back and let you face this alone," she mumbled into the crook of his shoulder.

"You were the one that said that it was too much of a risk to change the future," he reminded her.  "And you were right.  I wish there was a way to stop it, but there isn't.  We have to let the future unfold the way it's supposed to."

"Why do we even care?" she asked as she raised her head to meet his eyes.  

"Because if we change too much, then we'll never end up where we are right now."

She laid her head back on his shoulder.  "It sounds ridiculous, but I'm glad we're here."

"It's not ridiculous, doll."

She took a deep breath and let it out slowly.  She knew she needed to ask him a question, but she was terrified of the answer she would get.  Swallowing her doubts, she leaned back to look at him again.

"Am I wasting my time worrying about you – the you that's about to head off to war?"

He gave her a confused look.  "What do you mean?"

She hesitated, knowing that if she said what she wanted to say that she would be laying her heart at his feet with no guarantee that he felt the same way that she did.  "Do I mean as much to you as you mean to me?"

He brought a hand up to cup her cheek.  "We both feel the same way about you."

"Really?"

He closed his eyes and let out a sigh.  "Okay, he's a bit of an idiot and doesn't see just how amazing you are, but I do."

"You think I'm amazing?" she asked, giving him a hopeful look.

"I think you're the most amazing woman I've ever met," he answered truthfully.  "The younger version of me might not realize it, but you've changed my life by just existing."

"You've changed my life, too," she admitted with a shy smile.  "Both of you."  Her heart was racing and she knew if she didn't say what she wanted to at this exact moment, she would lose her nerve.  She had no way of knowing what tomorrow would bring, or what their world would be like once they returned to their own time.  This moment was all they had and she had to reach out and grasp what happiness she could while she had the chance.

Looking deep into his eyes, she searched the blue-grey depths for some hint that he was feeling the same way she was.  What she saw reflected in his eyes gave her hope that her feelings weren't one sided.

"I think I'm falling in love with you, Bucky."

She saw the smile slowly spread across his face as little lines appeared at the corners of his eyes.  Her heart began to beat faster in her chest and the roaring of the blood in her veins threatened to drown out the sounds around her.

"I can't begin to tell you how happy that makes me," he told her as he leaned in to softly kiss her lips.  "Because I'm completely head over heels in love with you, doll."

"You are?" she asked, scared that it was all just her imagination.  She'd longed to hear those words from Tony, but after hearing Bucky's confession – coupled with her own feelings for him – she realized how empty her love had been for Tony.  She'd been in love with the idea of him, but not truly in love with him.  True love was something that could only be shared by two people that felt the same way about one another.  She desperately wanted Bucky to be the one that shared her love, and she wasn't sure she could handle wanting another man that didn't want her.

"Isn't it obvious?" he asked as he ran his fingers down her face.  "You're everything I've ever wanted – everything I've ever needed.  You believe in me when I don't believe in myself.  You push me when I want to give up.  You've made me realize that I'm still the man I used to be, and for that I'll forever be grateful."

She glanced over her shoulder toward the clock sitting by the window.  "We still have a few hours until Steve shows up."  She paused and rolled her eyes.  "Which Steve, I have no clue. . ."

"It doesn't matter," he interrupted as he laid a finger over her lips.  "If we stay here a few more days I won't complain."  He took a deep breath and looked into her eyes.  "But if we go back home tomorrow, promise me that you'll stay with me."

"I'll kill anyone that tries to separate me from you," she told him with a steely glint in her eyes.  "I don't care if we have to go on the run again, but if we do, we'll do it together."

"With Steve, of course," he said with a shrug.

"Of course we'll have Steve," she said with a laugh.  "Can't go anywhere without our third wheel."  She let out a contented sigh.  "Maybe Nat will come with us, too."

He gave her a questioning look.  "What about those two?"

"What? Nat and Steve?"

"Yeah."

"I've been trying to get those two together for years," she said with a laugh.  "If you're on board with the idea, they don't stand a chance."

"Well, now that that's settled, I believe you were about to suggest a way we could occupy our time until Steve shows up."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _Thank you for reading Part 17 of this story! I hope you enjoyed it!   Whew! Steve didn’t see her use magic! That could have seriously altered the future! Wasn’t it sweet of him to let her and Bucky have a night together? Or was he just trying to avoid Bucky’s anger at having picked another fight?? That may very well be her last night with the younger Bucky, but it won’t be the end for her and “her Bucky.” What did you think of her assessment of her feelings toward Bucky and Tony? I figure most of us can relate to the “love” she feels for Tony - it’s an empty love that can never be returned, but it still hurts nonetheless. At least she’s finally found someone who can love her the way she deserves to be loved and he’s definitely found someone that loves him for who he is - scars and all. Who do you think will show up in the morning - little Steve or big Steve?? I look forward to your comments!_


	18. Chapter 18

She'd stayed seated in his lap as he cupped one hand along her jaw and supported her with his other.  The first kiss had been soft and gentle, as though he'd known she needed to be soothed before she would be ready for the fire he ignited within her.  She took the opportunity to show him how she felt as she poured all of her love into the kiss.

Eventually, the passion between them grew to a point that neither of them could deny.  The hand that had been gently cradling her face began to slide down her body leaving a trail of frayed nerves in its wake.  When he'd finally reached her ankle, he'd broken the kiss so he could take off her shoes.  While his head was angled down to see the clasp of her shoe, she began to kiss along the side of his neck as her fingers began popping the buttons of his shirt.

"Is that blood on your shoe?"

Her fingers froze as her eyes grew large.  "No?"

His head slowly twisted until those steely blue-grey eyes were narrowed at her.  "It's not yours.  Is it Steve's?"

She let out a breath and leaned her head back.  "No, Steve is fine.  He just had a busted lip and a black eye."

"Is that why he didn't go out with you tonight?" Bucky asked, finally figuring it out.  "He knew I'd be pissed he got into another fight and he didn't want me to ruin your last night in town."

"He really was exhausted," she explained.  "He and I have been going nonstop for the past two days.  The fight with those two guys was just the last straw."

"There were two of them?" Bucky asked, dropping his head and running his fingers through his hair again in frustration.

"Don't worry, I took care of them."

Bucky's eyes shot back up to meet hers again.  "Tell me you didn't pick a fight with two men?"

She glared at him.  "Bucky Barnes.  You know damn well I can take care of two low-life men without breaking a sweat."

He grabbed her ankle and lifted up her foot to emphasis is point.  "In heels?"

"I thought you said you trained Nat?" she fired back at him.  "I've seen that woman take out twice as many trained HYDRA agents in a pair of stilettos that looked like ice picks."

"That's Nat."

"Oh," she said pulling away from him in anger.  "So, I'm not as good as your little Russian assassin?"

He grabbed ahold of her waist to keep her from getting up.  "I didn't mean it that way."

She crossed her arms over her chest, refusing to touch him while she was so pissed off at him.  "Then how did you mean it?"

"I just meant that I never worried about Nat the way I worry about you."  He reached up and turned her chin so that she was forced to look him in the eye again.  "It would kill me if anything happened to you."

"I can take care of myself," she reminded him.  "You've trained with me – you know it's true."

"I know," he said as he leaned in to kiss her.  "But that will never stop me from worrying about you."

She let him kiss her, not because she felt she had no choice, but because in spite of his misogynistic views, she was touched that he cared that much about her.  She was about to deepen the kiss when she remembered the best part of her day.  Pulling back, she gave him a huge smile.

"I almost forgot," she said as her smile continued to grow.  "I tried out something new today."

"What was that?" he asked.  "The new left hook I showed you yesterday?"

"Even better," she told him as she leaned over and placed a smacking kiss to his lips.  "And I have you to thank for the inspiration."

He looked at her quizzically.  "I'm not going to like this, am I?"

"You're going to love it," she said as she playfully swatted his shoulder.  "Anyway, Steve was getting his ass handed to him by the biggest guy and the other one was starting to circle around them like he wanted a piece of the action.  I knew Steve was no match for one of them, let alone two, so I stepped in.  They both turned on me and that's when I realized that I was in a dress and heels.  I was thinking that I could use some weapons about then, or even you with your vibranium arm." She paused as she grabbed his left hand and placed a quick kiss against his palm.  "Then it hit me – I always have a weapon on me."

Bucky still wasn't catching on.  "What did you do?"

"Let me show you," she said as she took a deep breath and held out her arm.  When she exhaled, the magical glove she'd conjured earlier that day reappeared.  "See what I mean?  It's almost as lethal as your arm."

"How much damage did you do to those guys?" he asked, a concerned look on his face.

"I only hit one of them, but I'm pretty sure I broke his nose and possibly his cheekbones as well.  He's going to be in a lot of pain for a long time, but it'll teach him to pick fights in movie theaters."

Bucky let out a huff.  "I'm not saying I don't like the new party trick, but what about Steve?  Did he see you use magic?"

She shook her head.  "I was worried about that, too, but I had my back to him the whole time.  He saw me take out that cretin yesterday in the park with one punch, so he just assumed that I did the same to this guy."

Bucky's eyes grew large.  "You got into a fight yesterday and didn't bother to tell me?"

She let the magic fade as she framed his face with her hands.  "I knew you'd only worry more if I told you."

"You lied to me."

"I didn't tell you about it," she countered with a frown.  "How is that a lie?"

"It's a lie by omission," he explained as he gave her a hard look.  "I have to know that I can trust you to be honest with me."

"I just told you that I was in love with you," she reminded him.  "I think I'm doing a pretty good job of being honest with you."

His eyes softened as he leaned his forehead against hers.  "I know you don't need it or want it, but I want to protect you.  You have no idea how hard it is to sit in this house all day knowing that you're out there where I can't keep you safe."

She hadn't really thought about how he'd feel staying cooped up in Howard's house all day while she was out with Steve and the younger version of himself.  "I'm sorry, Bucky.  I won't do it again."

"Hopefully Steve will be here in the morning to take us back home," he said with a sad smile.  "But if he's not, you need to be out there with the younger Steve trying to make sure he remembers you."

"What about you – the younger version, I mean?"

"I know I don't act like it, but I love that you're getting to know the real me," he said as he dropped his head to avoid her gaze.

"I already know the real you, Bucky," she told him as he lifted his chin so she could look into his eyes.  "Why do you think I chose to wait until I was back here to tell you how I felt about you.  I could have told you on the street, but I wanted to tell you – the man I fell in love with."

"I thought you saw us as the same person?"

She shook her head.  "You are the same person, you're just at different points in time.  As much as it breaks my heart, there's no way I can have a future with the younger version of you.  But don't go getting the wrong idea – I'm in no way implying that I'm settling for you right now.  I'm not sure if the younger version of yourself is ready to settle down with one woman. . ."

"He is if it's you," Bucky interrupted as he tapped his temple.  "I know this for a fact.  You've made an impression on him – on me – and memories of you will stay with _us_ forever."

She gave him a questioning look, but didn't say anything.  Shaking her head, she tried to remember what she'd been about to say.  "As I was saying, you're not my consolation prize, Bucky – you are the prize.  I can see a difference in you every single day we stay here.  I understand why you've been so hard on yourself the past few years, but you don't have to keep torturing yourself – HYDRA did enough of that to last you a lifetime."

"I know," he admitted.  "Steve is always telling me that I have to forgive myself because there was nothing I could do to stop it.  I've spent years trying, but it wasn't until we came back here that I finally realized that letting go of my guilt was a real possibility, and I have you to thank for that." He took a deep breath and let it out slowly as he gazed lovingly into her eyes.  "The way you're looking at me right now. . ."

He let his sentence trail off and she waited for him to finish his thought.  When he continued to look into her eyes without saying anything, she spoke up.  "What about it?"

"You look at me the same way, no matter which version of me you're looking at," he finally finished.  "I was so angry that first night when you came back from the club.  You'd laughed and smiled with the younger version of me and I didn't think you'd ever be able to look at me like that – but you did."

"Because I do see the two of you as the same person, just seventy years apart."

"I get that now," he said.  

"Well, now that we've got that settled," she said with a little smirk as she twisted around so that her knees were on either side of his thighs.  Her dress was stretched too tight so she reached down and pulled up the hem.  She heard his quick intake of breath and looked up to see flames of desire burning in his eyes.

"Doll."

She reached out and began to finish unbuttoning his shirt as his hands started caressing the outsides of her thighs that had just been exposed.  Spreading apart the sides of his shirt, she laid her hands on his bare chest as she leaned in to kiss him.

"Don't you want to move this over to the bed?"

"No," she said as she began unbuckling his belt.  "I want to stay right here."

They'd finally made it to the bed, but she wasn't sure how either of them had been able to walk across the room.  She'd fallen into a heap on her side of the bed and had felt Bucky curl into her back just as she'd fallen asleep.

 

She'd felt as though she'd only been asleep for a few minutes when she felt his hands and mouth on her body.  The sky outside the window was still dark, but now that her mind was awake, she couldn't deny the throbbing need pulsating within her.  Their lovemaking was frantic, as though this would be the last time they'd be together like this and they each wanted to savor every touch, every kiss, every whispered moan as they brought one another to the edge and toppled over together.

He'd pulled her limp body from the bed just moments after, and she'd protested loudly until he'd dragged her under the warm spray of the shower.  Logically she knew that it would be wise to be up and ready for Steve – whichever one decided to show up that day – but her body craved a few more hours of sleep.

"We should probably go train for a little bit," Bucky said as they dried off and began getting dressed.  "We have no idea if we're heading back into a fight and we didn't train yesterday morning."

She nodded her head, knowing he was right.  Once she was dressed, she followed him down the stairs to the training room.  They were both a little tired, but they still managed to complete a decent round of sparring before they headed back upstairs to get ready for whatever this day would bring.

They were just about to walk into the bedroom when they heard the doorbell ring.  Bucky quickly pulled her back into the shadows as they peered down the stairs toward the front entrance.  She could feel the tension in Bucky as they waited to see which Steve would be at the door.

Disappointment washed over her when she realized that it was the younger version of their friend that had shown up again this morning.  She closed her eyes and shook her head.  "What I am doing wrong?"

Bucky leaned over and kissed her temple.  "You're not doing anything wrong, doll.  Steve and Strange will figure this out.  They'll be back for us, I know it."

She let out a dejected breath and headed into the room to change into a dress and heels yet again.  It had been fun playing dress up for a few days, but now she longed for a pair of leggings and an over-sized t-shirt.  Bucky did his best to distract her by helping her into her garter and stockings, and she ended up heading downstairs feeling giddy and excited for the day despite the disappointment she'd felt just a few minutes prior.

When she walked into the kitchen and found Steve sitting at the kitchen table with both Ana and Jarvis and a huge plate of food before him, she wasn't the least bit surprised.  "Good morning, Steve."

"Good morning," he said as he wiped his mouth and gave her a smile.  "Mrs. Jarvis. . .I'm sorry. . .Ana insisted that I have something to eat while I waited for you to finish getting ready."

"That's fine," she said.  "I haven't eaten either.  Give me a few minutes and I'll join you, okay?"  She waited until he nodded before turning to Ana.  "Would you mind making me a tray to take up to the gentleman upstairs?"

"I've already eaten, Ms. YLN," Jarvis said, rising from his seat and carrying his plate over to the sink.  "You sit with Mr. Rogers and eat.  I'll take our guest his breakfast this morning."

"Thank you, Jarvis," YN said as she went to the stove to fix herself a plate before sitting down in front of Steve.

"So, did your travel arrangements get worked out yet?" Steve asked.

She gave him a sad smile.  "Unfortunately not.  I hate to keep making you come all the way out here. . ."

"It's no problem," he said.  "I like spending time with you."

She reached across the table and gave his hand a squeeze.  "I've enjoyed spending this time with you more than you can ever know."

"So, did you want to go somewhere different today?"

She thought about it for a moment.  "I've never been to Coney Island.  Would you mind if we went there today?"

 

And so their routine continued.  Every morning the younger Steve would show up at the door, every evening she would spend out on the town dancing with the younger Bucky, and every night she'd spend lying in the arms of the older version of the man she was falling more and more in love with.  YN continued to put on a brave face, but with each passing day, she became even more worried that her and Bucky's plan wouldn't work.  They spent hours talking about what they would do once Steve was finally allowed to enlist.  As much as it terrified them to think about, they knew that they would have to find somewhere to go where no one would ever guess the truth about them.

As the days turned into weeks, they finally had to accept the reality of their situation.  Howard had been mostly absent from the house for the past week and a half as he finalized the last details of the Stark Expo that was due to begin that day.  As YN lay in the comfort of Bucky's arms watching the sun rise through the window, she finally had to admit that their plan had failed.

"What will we do tomorrow?" she asked him.

"Steve may still show up for us today," Bucky reminded her.  "We can't give up all hope just yet."

"But if he doesn't, we'll need to figure out something."

"I've been thinking about it," he admitted as he brushed a hand down her face.  "If Steve doesn't come back for us, I'm going to have Howard remove my arm."

"What?" she asked with a concerned look on her face.  "Why would you do that?"

"I can't stay locked indoors for the rest of my life," he reasoned.  "If I only have one arm, then the Army won't come looking to draft me.  We can head out west somewhere and start a life together.  It's not perfect, but we can't stay here forever."

She reached out and took his vibranium hand in hers.  "I love this arm, but if it means that you and I can be together without the threat of you going off to war again, then we'll do what we have to do."

"Hey," he said, tipping up her chin to meet his gaze.  "It won't be so bad.  Maybe Stark can show you how to reattach it and I'll only have to go without it when I'm out in public."

She thought about it for a moment.  "That's an idea.  I'm not sure if I'm smart enough to figure it out. . ."

"You're smart enough, doll," he told her as he kissed her forehead and started to get out of bed.  "Let's head down to the training room.  We could both use a little physical exertion to get our minds off our predicament."

"I thought that's what we just did," she teased as she followed him to the bathroom.

He turned around and grabbed her by the waist, spinning her around until she began to laugh.  "You've got a dirty mind.  Has anyone ever told you that?"

"You love my dirty mind, mister."

"I do," he admitted.  "I love everything about you, doll."

When he said things like that to her, it made her heart swell.  The past few weeks she'd spent with him had been a wonderful experience for them both, but she still missed home.  She knew that things would change between them if they ever made it back to the twenty-first century, but after the bonds they'd formed, she was sure they could weather any storm that came their way.  But that was only _if_ they made it back.  

If they were truly stuck here for the rest of their lives then they would have to learn to adapt.  She knew they'd stay together, not only because they needed one another, but because they loved one another.  They could figure out how to make a life together, but it wouldn't be the same as the life they could have back in their own time.  She knew it sounded selfish, but she wanted to see her real life play out with him by her side and not some farce they were forced to live out in 1942.

When she walked into the kitchen and heard Ana laughing, she knew which version of Steve had shown up.  She felt guilty at the resentment she harbored for him.  Why wasn't he coming back for them?  In the past few weeks, she'd allowed herself to consider the worst-case scenario only once, and she'd sworn she'd never mention it to Bucky. . .but what if Steve wasn't coming back to get them because something had happened to him after they'd been transported back in time?  She pushed that thought to the furthest reaches of her mind and focused on other possibilities.  Maybe Strange didn't know how to travel this far back, or maybe the Eye had been damaged and he couldn't use it any longer.  There were a thousand reasons why she and Bucky were still stuck in 1942, and it seemed as though they might never find out the answer.

As she stood in the doorway and watched Steve laugh and joke with Ana, she began to smile.  If anything good had come of her time here, it had been the opportunity to really get to know Steve Rogers.  Captain America was a great guy, and the older version of Steve was just as amazing, but there was something about knowing him before the weight of the world had been placed on his shoulders.  He was freer with his smiles and there was a boyish innocence that would soon disappear once Howard and Dr. Erskine injected him with the serum.  There was a part of her that wanted to keep him the way he was forever, but she knew it was pure selfishness on her part.  If he didn't enlist tonight at the Expo, he'd never meet Peggy, and she wouldn't deprive him of that for anything in the world.

Steve finally noticed her standing by the door and turned his smile toward her.  "Still no word on your friends?"

She plastered a fake smile on her face and went to sit with him at the table.  "No, not today, but I'm still hopeful."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _Thank you for reading Part 18 of this story!  I hope you enjoyed it! Why do you think Steve hasn’t come back to get them yet? It’s been weeks and now it’s time for the Stark Expo to begin. We all know what’s going to happen next, but where does that leave Bucky and the Reader? Do you think they’ll be stuck in 1942 forever?  I look forward to your comments!_


	19. Chapter 19

"So, where are we going today, Steve?" YN asked once they'd finished breakfast and left Howard's.

"About that. . ."

She turned and gave him a long look.  "Steve Rogers.  What have you done?"

Steve's face blossomed in an assortment of reds and pinks.  "I haven't done anything. . .yet."  He paused and took a deep breath which caused him to go into a coughing fit.

YN grabbed his hand and ushered him to a set of stairs leading up to someone's house and made him sit until he could catch his breath.  He looked up at her with pleading eyes and she knew in that moment that she would do anything for this man, no matter what he asked of her.  She may be completely furious with the older version of him for leaving her and Bucky stranded in 1942, but she could never stay mad at the man sitting before her.

"You can trust me, Steve," she said as she kneeled down in front of him and placed her hands on his bony knees.  "You're my best friend and I'll help you in any way I can.  After all, you've been here for me these past few weeks.  It's about time I returned the favor."

"I'm your best friend?  What about Bucky?"

"He's my best friend, too.  There's no rule that says you can only have one best friend, right?"

Steve laughed and nodded his head.  "Right.  I guess that means I can have two best friends, as well.  After all, rules were made to be broken."

"Heaven help me," she said with a shake of her head as she muttered to herself.  "How did I ever think you were a Boy Scout?"

"What?"  

She grabbed his hands and helped him to feet.  "Okay, where are we going and what are we doing?" She paused and gave him a pointed look.  "And is it illegal?"

"Slavery was legal, but that didn't make it right."

"And now you're getting philosophical on me.  I have a feeling I'm not going to like what you've got planned.  How much trouble am I going to be in with Bucky once he finds out?"

A wide grin spread across his face.  "Oh, Bucky knows I do this all the time.  He doesn't care."

"Right.  Spill it, Rogers."

"Fine," he said with a huff as they continued down the street toward the train station.  "I heard about a new recruiting station opening up a few blocks from here.  I thought it wouldn't hurt to try again."

YN tried to hide the smile from her face.  Steve had already told her this story years ago, but it was odd to be living it with him now.  She knew there wasn't any harm in letting him try to enlist since it wouldn't be until later that night that he met Dr. Erskine.  Grabbing his arm, she motioned for him to lead the way.

When Steve had been rejected yet again, YN felt a moment of pity for him, but she was careful not to show it.  He didn't mind accepting help when he needed it, but he hated for people to pity him.  It was hard for her, though.  He'd told her about being rejected time and time again, but seeing it firsthand broke her heart.  She knew he was destined for great things, but it just wasn't his time yet.

Knowing what was supposed to happen next, she suggested they go back to Brooklyn and catch a movie.  Steve was reluctant, but he agreed anyway.

The small theater was surprisingly full, and YN was on the edge of her seat as she waited for what she knew would come next.  She'd already witnessed first hand what happened when people were disrespectful in a movie theater, but this time, she would have to let the events unfold as they had before.  The theater went dark, the screen before them came to life with the image of a Nazi flag blowing in the wind.

"War continues to ravage Europe," the announcer said as a video showing men in battle began to play.  "But help is on the way – every able-bodied young man is lining up to serve his country. Even little Timmy is doing his part collecting scrap metal.  Nice work, Timmy."

"Who cares? Play the movie already."

YN and Steve both looked to see who had called out.  From what she could tell, it was a man a few rows in front of them.

"Hey, show some respect," Steve whispered toward the man.

YN bit her tongue to keep from saying something.

"Meanwhile, overseas our brave boys are showing the Axis powers that the price of freedom is never too high."  The movie continued to roll on in the background, but most everyone was focused on the man making a scene.

"Let's go, get on with it," the man continued to yell.  "Just start the cartoon."

Steve had finally had enough.  There was a woman silently crying in the next row over and the other people in the theater were starting to get uncomfortable."

"Hey, wanna shut up?"

The man slowly rose and turned back to stare menacingly at Steve.  YN picked up her things and with a shake of her head followed Steve and the arrogant asshole out to the alley behind the theater.

 

Bucky was at work when he got the call – the call he'd been dreading since he'd finished his winter training at Camp McCoy in Wisconsin.  He told his boss the news and then headed back home to change into his uniform. He'd hoped that YN and Steve would be there, but he knew they were most likely out enjoying the pretty day.

He hit a few of the most likely spots, but they were nowhere to be found.  Taking a chance that they were at the theater, Bucky headed that way, but a sound from the alley drew his attention.

Shaking his head in frustration, he already knew the scene that would await him at the end.  True to form, there was Steve, lip bloodied and his clothes filthy, as some brute punched him right in the jaw.  The guy went to hit him again, but Bucky stopped him.

Grabbing the other man's arm, Bucky spun his around.  "Hey.  Pick on someone your own size."

The guy didn't respond.  He snarled as he threw a sloppy left hook.  Bucky dodged it easily and hit the man square on the jaw with a clean right hook.  As the man spun around from the force of the blow, Bucky took the opportunity to plant his boot right on the man's ass, sending him flying toward the entrance of the alley.  Assured that he was no longer a threat, Bucky turned back to his friend who was doubled over as he tried to catch his breath.  He gave YN a cocky grin and wink as he passed by her.

"Sometimes I think you like getting punched," Bucky remarked as Steve gingerly touched the heel of his hand to his soon to be bruised forehead.

"I had him on the ropes."

Bucky leaned down and picked up an enlistment card where it had fallen to the ground during the fight.  "How many times is this?"

Reading the card, a grin spread across Bucky's face.  "Oh, you're from Paramus now?  You know it's illegal to lie on an enlistment form?  And seriously, Jersey?"

Steve wiped away the blood at the corner of his mouth and looked at Bucky for the first time since he'd come into the alley.  Narrowing his eyes at the sight of his friend in uniform, he asked, "You get your orders?"  

Bucky looked down for a moment before raising and eyebrows and cocking his head to the side.  Bouncing on his toes, he replied, "The 107th.  Sergeant James Barnes shipping out for England first thing tomorrow."  

He glanced back at YN and she could see the underlying edge of sadness in his eyes.  She knew he didn't want to go, and it wasn't because of her.  He hated the thought of leaving Steve behind.

With a huff, Steve turned away from Bucky, shook his head, and stared at the ground.  "I should be going."

Bucky had a moment of pity for his friend, but he didn't want to dwell on the negative.  Plastering a smile to his face, he wrapped one arm around Steve and the other around YN as he pulled them along, out of the alley.  "C'mon man, it's my last night.  I gotta get you cleaned up."

"Why?  Where are we going?"

Looking straight ahead, Bucky handed Steve a copy of the newspaper.  "The future."

Steve unfolded the paper and saw the advertisement for the World Exposition of Tomorrow before passing it over to YN.  "We're going?"

"You better believe we're going," Bucky said as they headed back toward the apartment.  "I've heard there's going to some amazing things there tonight.  Plus, I need to do something special for my best girl."

YN smiled and leaned into him.  She knew that this would be her last day with Bucky – this Bucky –  no matter what happened tomorrow.  Whatever happened to her and the older version of him, she wanted to make sure that today was as perfect for the man beside her as possible.

Once Steve had gotten cleaned up, Bucky had treated them both to a nice dinner.  YN had remembered what it had been like to go out to eat as an Avenger where everyone had bent over backwards to make sure that everything about your meal was perfect.  The same thing was happening to Bucky and it made her ridiculously happy to know that at one point in his life, people had seen him as the hero and not the villain.

Once they'd gotten to the Expo, it was already packed full of people ready to see the latest technological creations.  YN looked around at the displays and smiled at some of the ridiculous things she saw behind the cases.  

As the three of them wandered around, a narrator could be heard from the loudspeakers.  "Welcome to the Modern Marvels Pavilion and the World of Tomorrow.  A greater world.  A better world."

They heard a group of people start applauding and with a shrug began walking in that direction.  When they got to the stage, they saw a bright red car surrounded by five women dressed in sexy tuxedos and top hats.

"Ladies and gentleman, Mr. Howard Stark," one of the women announced as Howard began jogging onto the stage.

The woman who had announced him took his top hat from him as he bent her over and planted a kiss right on her mouth.  YN shook her head as her eyes rolled back in disbelief.  He took the offered mic and the women began filing off the stage.

As Howard wiped the lipstick from his mouth, he looked out into the crowd and spotted YN.  When he saw Bucky standing beside her, his eyes grew wide in shock.  YN placed a finger against her lips and gave him a wink.  With a shake of his head, he focused his attention back on the crowd before him.

"Ladies and gentlemen, what if I told you that in just a few short years, your automobile won't even have to touch the ground at all?"

The girls took their places and removed the wheels from the car as Howard moved the control panel out of the way.  "Yes. Thanks, Mandy.

"With Stark Gravitic Reversion Technology you'll be able to do just that," Howard continued with a huge grin on his face.

He turned a dial and moved a lever as the crowd watched in awe as the car began to rise into the air.  YN looked over at Bucky and was delighted to see the look of shock on his face.

"Holy cow," he said in wonder just before the car began to spark and fall back to the ground.

Bucky looked over at YN and Steve with a smirk on his face.  Steve didn't look the least bit impressed, but YN was enjoying the show.  She knew the truth behind Howard's genius, so she wasn't fooled by this show of haphazardness – his true talent was being utilized for more important endeavors.

As the crowd gasped and then eventually clapped, Howard tried to save face.  "I did say a few years, didn't I?"

YN was focused on Howard's feigned look of panic, so it was a few minutes before she and Bucky realized that Steve was missing.  Bucky started to look around frantically until YN touched his arm and pointed at the sign for the recruitment station.

"I'm going to kill him."

"Bucky, he just wants to do what's right."  They began to head toward the recruitment office, but YN stopped at the bottom of the stairs.  "Before you go yell at him again, can I have a minute or two alone with him?"

He gave her an odd look, but nodded his head.  "Sure thing, doll.  Take all the time you need."

She gave him a quick kiss on the cheek.  "Thank you."

She jogged up the stairs and caught Steve before he walked in.  "Steve Rogers, stop right there."

He turned around and gave her a look.  "You know I have to do this."

She leaned in and gave him a hug.  "I know you do, and I'm proud of you that you never stop trying to save the world – even when the world keeps telling you they don't need you."  She took a breath and chose her next words carefully.  "I meant what I said this afternoon – you're my best friend and there's nothing you can do to ever make me stop loving you."

"Where's this coming from, YN?"

She forced a smile onto her face as she tried not to cry.  This may very well be the last time she'd ever see her friend and she wanted to somehow make him understand that she didn't blame him for leaving her and Bucky in 1942.  She had no idea what had happened to him and the others after she and Bucky had gone back in time, but the longer they stayed here, the more convinced she was that they had either changed the future too much, or that Mordo had somehow overtaken them all and destroyed the Eye.  Either way, it looked as though she and her Bucky would be spending the rest of their lives hiding out.

"I just want you to know that I understand if you can't make it by to pick me up in the morning."

He nodded to the recruitment station behind him.  "You really think this time is going do the trick?"

She framed his face in her hands.  "You are destined for great things Steve Rogers and don't you dare ever let anyone tell you differently."  She leaned in and gave him a kiss on the cheek.  "Now Bucky is going to come yell at you, but go easy on him – he's heading to war tomorrow."

"You won't be here when he gets back, will you?"

The tears were threatening to break free, but she took a deep breath and held them back a little longer.  She knew she needed to be strong for these two tonight.  "No, I won't be.  If my friends can't come get me in the morning, then I'm going to have to find somewhere else to go.  But don't worry about me.  The gentleman upstairs will take care of me, but I need you to take care of Bucky.  You two have a bond that nothing in this world can break, but he's going to need you."

"Bucky doesn't need me," Steve said with a laugh.

"Oh, yes he does," she said as she gave him one last hug and said something she knew she shouldn't say.  "And don't blame yourself for what's going to happen.  It's not your fault and Bucky knows that."

"What are you talking about?"

"It's not important now.  Just promise you won't forget me.  In seventy-six years, I want you to remember this moment and if by some miracle you do, remember that I love you."  She shook her head and headed back down the steps before she screwed up the future any more than she already had.  Stopping beside Bucky, she gave him a nod and he headed up to confront Steve.

Steve had been confused by YN's last words.  Why was it important that he remember her in seventy-six years?  Would he even still be alive then?  Turning around he spotted something that caught his eye.  He walked over and stepped onto a device that projected his image onto the body of soldier, but only his eyes were visible in the space where his face should be.  Bucky came up behind him and gave him a playful shove.

"You're really going to do this again?"

"Well, it's a fair.  I'm gonna try my luck."

"As who, Steve from Ohio?  They'll catch you.  Or worse, they'll actually take you."

"Look, I know you don't think I can do this."

"This isn't a back alley, Steve.  It's war."

"I know it's a war," Steve interrupted, starting to get agitated.

"Why are you so keen to fight?" Bucky was getting angry.  "There are so many important jobs."

"What do you want me to do?" Steve asked, finally letting his anger get the best of him.  "Collect scrap metal in my little red wagon?"

"Yes. Why not?"

"I'm not going to sit in a factory, Bucky." Bucky started to say something, but Steve kept going.  "Bucky, come on.  There are men laying down their lives. I got no right to do any less than them.  That's what you don't understand.  This isn't about me."

"Right.  'Cause you got nothing to prove."  Bucky stopped and shook his head.  He knew there was no use trying to talk Steve out of this.  "Don't do anything stupid until I get back."

"How can I? You're taking all the stupid with you."

Bucky leaned in and gave Steve a hug.  "You're a punk."

"Jerk."  Steve pulled back.  "Be careful.  Don't win the war till I get there."

Bucky gave Steve a salute and headed back down the stairs toward YN.  "Well, I guess that's goodbye for now."

"You'll see him again, I'm sure of it."

"So, doll, what do you want to do now?  Dancing?"

"I don't want to go dancing, Bucky."

He looked at her in confusion.  "What do you mean?  You love to go dancing."

She took his hands in hers and looked into his eyes.  "This is your last night in New York, Bucky.  I don't want to spend it surrounded by a bunch of people."

"What are you saying, doll?"

She leaned in and kissed him.  "I love you Bucky Barnes, and I promise that I will love you for the rest of my life."  She may have been with the younger version of the man she loved, but she knew the other Bucky was going to remember this moment and she wanted to make sure he knew why she was making this choice.  "All I ask is, if this is my last night with you, hold me like I'm more than just a friend."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _Thank you for reading Part 19 of this story!  I hope you enjoyed it! We’ve finally made it to the last night the boys are in New York together. It’s always fun to go back and figure out how to describe the body language we’re so used to seeing in the movie! I hope you were able to picture it like it’s supposed to be, just with our Reader added in! So, do you think by some miracle, the older version of Steve will be able to come rescue them, or are they stuck in the past forever? The Reader was doing everything she could to tell him without putting the entire future in jeopardy. What about Bucky? What do you think is going to happen in the next part between them? I look forward to your comments!_


	20. Chapter 20

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _Some of you caught the reference to Adele's_ [All I Ask](https://youtu.be/SqsOUt0vkzY) _at the end of Part 19.  I've had this song in mind for this part since the beginning, so if you haven't heard it (or even if you have) listen to it, but imagine it from Bucky's perspective instead of the Reader's - I think it has more of an impact if you imagine those are Bucky's words and thoughts._

Bucky had been shocked by YN's words but had offered no resistance when she took his hand and began leading him through the crowd toward the exit. He'd known she wasn't like the other women he'd met, but he also knew better than to ever say those words aloud again. But it was true. She didn't act, or speak, or even think like the other women he'd dated in the past. There was something about her that didn't fit in with the world they lived in, but at that particular moment, he really didn't care what it was that made her so special, just as long as he got to spend his last night with her.

As they boarded the train back to Brooklyn, Bucky led them back to a mostly-deserted car where they could have a little bit more privacy. He found a seat and pulled her into his lap as the train began to move. When her arms wrapped around his neck to keep herself from toppling over from the sudden jolt, his hands tightened around her waist.

She was looking into his eyes and he knew he'd never seen eyes as beautiful as hers. From a distance most everyone's eyes looked like one solid shade, but once you moved in for a closer look it was easy to pinpoint all the different flecks of color that were hidden unless you were lucky enough to be that close to another person. In the harsh light of the train car, he could distinctly see the myriad of colors that continued to fascinate him the longer he stared. 

He'd always been mesmerized by the stars in the sky, and the different constellations that he'd learned to recognize over the years. He'd spent an entire summer in high school reading every book the library had to offer on space, so he knew that the stars in the sky were unique to the Milky Way and that if someone were to travel to a different galaxy, the stars in the sky wouldn't look like the ones seen from Earth. In that way, eyes were like galaxies, and each pattern of colors were unique to that individual. As he continued to study YN's eyes, he began to see patterns between the different colored specks in each of her irises. He used his imagination to come up with names for the constellations he saw in her eyes and because of that, he knew without a doubt that he would recognize the eyes looking back at him no matter the circumstance. 

He wasn't sure how long the two of them sat on the train gazing into one another's eyes, but Bucky didn't care. If this was his last night with her, he wanted to memorize everything about her – from the color of her eyes, to the shape of her lips, from the sound of her voice, to the softness of her skin beneath his fingertips. She was staring at him just as intently as he was staring at her, and he wondered if she too was trying to memorize his features like he was trying to memorize hers.

Time seemed to stop for just a second, but like all good things in life, the moment passed too quickly. All too soon the conductor called their stop and with a smile, YN rose and took his hand again. 

Once they were on the street again, she threaded her arm through his and leaned into his shoulder as they made their way back to his apartment. He wasn't sure what he'd done to find such a perfect woman, but he'd recognized early on that she was something special – something to be cherished. She was smart and fiery, but she was also loyal and kind. Most of the women he'd known had hated having Steve tag along on their dates, even if they'd brought along a friend of their own to help keep him occupied. But YN wasn't like that. There were times when Bucky wondered if YN didn't actually prefer his best friend to him, but then he'd hold her in his arms and kiss her, and his doubts would be washed away. Her friendship with Steve was just that – friendship. That alone was enough to make him fall in love with her.

He stopped in his tracks as he realized that he'd never responded to her when she'd told him she loved him. He'd known for days – maybe even since the night he'd met her – that he loved her, but he needed to make sure that she heard the words. He had to make sure that she knew how he felt before he left tomorrow morning. There was always a chance he might not make it back from this war and there was no time for second guessing. Time wasn't a luxury they had any longer and they needed to make each second count.

"I love you, YN," he told her as they stood outside of the apartment building he shared with Steve.

A slow smile spread across her face as she leaned in to kiss him. It was a simple kiss, barely even a brush of her lips across his, but it one of the sweetest kissed they'd ever shared.

"I know."

That was all she said – just those two words, but they were like music to his ears. He'd heard declarations of love from many of the other girls he'd dated over the years, but it had just been an empty expression devoid of any real emotion – just like his utterance of those three words in return. But when YN declared her love for him, Bucky knew it was different. Her words were like an unbreakable oath full of intensity that would never diminish over time.

He framed her face in his hands and she met him halfway as their lips found one another's yet again. This kiss was different – it was full of emotion that had only been hinted at before but was now overpowering and intoxicating. He'd never wanted a woman like he wanted the one in his arms at that moment.

Reluctantly, he pulled away from her as his fingers trailed down her face. He took her hand and led her up the stairs.

Once they were behind the closed door of his apartment, his nervousness began to take over. He knew she'd been the one to suggest this change of plans, but there was a part of him that wanted to remember her just the way she was in this moment without anything else clouding his memory. 

She wrapped her arms around his neck and began to kiss him again. An aching need began to overtake his senses, and he almost lost his resolve, but he eventually gained enough clarity to pull away.

"Let's take things slow," he whispered as he ran his hands up and down her arms as they stayed wrapped around his neck. "We have all night long."

He saw the surprise, as well as a look of disappointment, in her eyes before her lips turned up in a smile. He was sure he was mistaken, but he was almost sure he'd seen a trace of relief in her expression. Or maybe he'd just imagined it.

"It's your night," she said. "We can do whatever you want to do."

"I know it's going to sound strange, but what I really want to do is talk to you. I want to know everything about you, YN." He paused for a moment and laughed when he saw the look of fear in her eyes. "What? Are you scared to tell me your life story? Got some ugly skeletons in the closest you don't want me to know about?"

She laughed along with him before shaking her head and letting out a sigh. "My life is an open book, Bucky Barnes. Anything you want to know, I'll be more than happy to tell you."

He stepped out of her embrace and took off his hat to lay on the table by the door. "Let me get out of this uniform real quick."

She shook her head and started to take a seat on the couch. He turned to walk back to the bedroom he shared with Steve, but he stopped at the door to look back at her. There was nothing wrong with sitting on the couch and talking, but a part of him wanted to know what it would be like to hold her in his arms all night long – to wake up in the morning with her by his side. Tonight might be his only chance to ever have those experiences, and he didn't want to look back with any regrets.

"You don't have to stay out there, doll."

He saw one eyebrow shoot upward in question, but with a shrug, she rose and started walking toward him. "Change your mind?"

He ran a hand down the side of her face as he contemplated her question. He loved the shape of her face and he found himself tracing the outline of her features over and over again like he was a blind man trying to memorize the way she looked by touch alone. 

"No," he finally answered. "I just want to hold you tonight. Is that okay?"

He watched her eyes soften and he could've sworn he saw tears start to form before she blinked and grabbed the labels of his uniform jacket. Before he could prepare himself, her lips were on his again.

"I'd love nothing more," she answered as she turned toward the bed. "Which one is yours?"

Bucky looked over at the set of twin beds and as his eyes settled on Steve's he let himself wonder about his friend. Would he finally get his wish tonight, or would he be walking through the front door any minute feeling rejected and useless once again? He'd hate to make Steve sleep on the couch, but he'd do it for Steve if the roles were reversed. 

"The one by the window. Steve catches a cold if there's a draft." 

Bucky watched as she walked to the bed he'd indicated and began to slip off her shoes before tucking her feet up under her and fixing her gaze on him. He loosened the knot of his tie and slipped it free of his shirt before placing it on the outermost doorknob and shutting the door. With YN's eyes still glued to him, he began to take off the rest of his uniform and hung it up neatly so he wouldn't have to worry about wrinkles in the morning.

When he was wearing nothing but his boxer shorts and a ribbed tank, he retrieved a pair of pajamas from the small chest by the door. They were old but soft, and he knew it would probably be the last time he'd get to lie in a semi-comfortable bed in worn, comfortable pajamas for the foreseeable future so he needed to enjoy this as much as possible.

He walked over to his bed and reached out for YN's hands. When she'd placed hers in his, he gently pulled until she'd risen. "Do you want to change?"

She shook her head. "I'm fine the way I am. This dress is more comfortable than it looks."

He pulled back the covers and slipped in so that his back was against the wall. He held up the covers and waited for her to join him. Once she was settled in beside him, his hand instinctively went to her face again before it slipped down to her waist to draw her closer to him.

She reached up and brushed a strand of hair off of his forehead before her hand laid to rest along his left arm. They were both using one arm to prop up their heads as they shared the single pillow on his bed. Their faces were only a few inches apart and Bucky was glad that the moonlight was shining in through the window so he could see the colors of her eyes again. He knew he'd never look up at the night sky again without thinking of her eyes.

"So, what do you want to know?" she asked with a smile.

"Everything," he answered. "Tell me about your childhood, your parents, school, whatever. I want to know every single thing about you."

She didn't answer him right away and he could tell that she was thinking. He knew the woman in his bed had secrets, and he respected her need for privacy, but surely something as simple as childhood stories couldn't be classified information.

"My parents live in the Upper East Side in a penthouse apartment on Park Avenue," she told him with a sigh.

"Not the place I've been dropping you off every night?"

"Oh, no," she quickly assured him. "That's a friend's house. My parents and I don't exactly see eye to eye on certain things."

"Like what?"

She took a breath and thought for a moment. "Buffy and Fitz have standards they expect the people around them to meet and I come up lacking on every one of them."

"I find that hard to believe."

She cocked an eyebrow and gave him a little smirk as she swept her hand across the two of them. "Really? Have you met me?"

Realization dawned in his eyes and he began to chuckle. "On second thought, you would be a socialite's nightmare. You're headstrong and too independent for your own good. Not to mention that you're currently in the bed of a man that you're not married to."

"Scandalous."

"Downright wanton," he teased.

"I left New York pretty early on and I was fortunate enough to meet some amazing people along the way who took me in and gave me a home."

"That's who you're trying to get back to, isn't it?"

"Yeah," she answered with a sigh. "A friend and I were separated from our other friends a few weeks ago and we've been waiting for them to come back and get us ever since."

Bucky nodded his head in understanding. "And once they come back for you, you won't be returning to New York again?"

She slid her hand up to cup his cheek. "You will see me again, Bucky. That I can promise." She paused. "But when we meet again, I might not remember you. . ."

"What?"

She let out a frustrated sigh. "War changes people, Bucky, and you and I will be no different from anyone else coming back from over there."

Bucky nodded his head. "You're right. I've seen guys coming back that I've known my whole life. They have this vacant look in their eyes and it's almost like they have no idea who I am – like I'm a ghost from their past."

"Something like that," she agreed. "Just make sure that when we meet again, you do whatever it takes to make me remember who you are and what we've shared these past few weeks."

"Doll," he said as his hand found her face again and drew her in for a kiss. "If I make it out of this war alive, I will move heaven and earth to find you, and if you don't remember me, I will spend the rest of my life telling you how much I love you until you have no choice but to love me back."

He watched as a tear slipped from the corner of her eye. He brushed his thumb across her cheek to wipe it away as he whispered soothing words to her.

They spent the next few hours telling stories – some made them laugh and some made them cry, but eventually they both felt as though they knew the other as well as anyone could say they knew another human being. Bucky struggled to keep his eyes open because he didn't want to waste a moment of what little time he had left with her, but eventually he succumbed to sleep with her safely wrapped in his arms.

 

YN knew she should sleep, but a searing pain had settled into her heart as the night wore on. She'd imagined that she and Bucky would spend these last few hours together lost in passion, but he'd had other plans. While she couldn't complain about the turn of events – she'd learned more about him in one night than she'd learned in the past few weeks with the older version of him – it also left her with too much time to think about what would happen next.

As she lay next to the love of her life, she remembered the files Nat had uncovered after the fall of HYDRA. When she'd read through them the first time, she'd only felt a general sadness for Steve's friend. But now that she'd gotten to know him, had grown to love him more than any other person she'd ever loved in her life, she saw the horrors he'd endured in a whole new light.

She wanted nothing more than to wake him up and take him back to Howard's with her – the future be damned. She had no idea what would happen if the Bucky from this time met the Bucky she'd come back to the past with, but she didn't care. The entire world could come crashing down around her ears and it would be worth it just to spare him one iota of pain.

But eventually her better sense prevailed. She'd talked her Bucky out of doing something just as stupid a few weeks ago because it wasn't just their lives that were on the line. There were billions of people in the world who would be affected by their actions. Mentally going over the list of reasons she'd given Bucky for not killing the man lying in her arms, she was able to quell her desire to do something rash. Maybe she had been spending too much time with Steve lately – his utter disregard for rules had started to rub off on her.

Thoughts of little Steve had her mind centering on big Steve again. Where was he? Why hadn't he come for them yet? With her emotions already raw from saying goodbye to little Steve at the Expo and her upcoming farewell to this version of Bucky, it was hard to keep her mind from going down the darkest paths. She and Bucky had never discussed the most likely reason why Steve and Strange hadn't come back, but they'd both been thinking it. She could see the worry and doubt in his eyes and she knew that he also believed that something horrible had happened to their friends once they'd been catapulted back in time.

 

The buzzing of the alarm clock woke them both. YN wasn't sure when she'd finally drifted off, but at some point in the night, she'd ended up with her head resting on Bucky's chest. She felt him reach over her to silence the alarm before she felt his lips on her temple.

"I need to go, doll."

As the rays of light from the rising sun began filling the small room, her heartache and fears came rushing back. "Don't go. Stay here with me. We can run away some place where no one will ever find us. . ."

He leaned in and silenced her with a kiss. She could feel him pouring every ounce of love he had into that kiss, but it wasn't enough to stop the tears from filling her eyes.

"Don't cry, doll," he said as he began to wipe the tears away. "You said it yourself last night – we'll see each other again someday."

He sat up and pulled her onto his lap as he cradled her head against his chest. She did her best to stop the flow of tears – he didn't need to see her break down right now. He needed her to be strong so he didn't feel as though he had to worry about her. That was least she could do for him in this moment.

She rose and headed toward the bathroom to freshen up and wash her face. 

Once she wiped the remaining tears from her eyes, she stood in front of the small mirror and looked at the woman staring back at her. Taking a deep breath, she forced a smile onto her face and headed back to the bedroom.

Bucky was already dressed in his uniform by the time she'd gotten back, and she took a moment to admire how handsome he looked. He gave her a kiss on the cheek as he took his turn in the bathroom.

"Do you have time for breakfast?" she called through the closed door of the bathroom as she glanced at the clock on the wall.

He opened the door as he finished drying his hands. "They said they'd have something for us to eat at our briefing this morning." He paused to look at the clock. "Which is in less than an hour, unfortunately."

"So this is goodbye?"

He laid the towel on the bathroom sink and walked toward her. Pulling her into his arms, he looked into her eyes. "This is not goodbye. It's just until we meet again."

"Until we meet again," she repeated, liking the hint of hope behind the words.

He leaned in and kissed her one last time. There was a desperation in this kiss that hadn't been present before. They could both pretty up the words, but deep down, they knew that this was the end of the way things had been before, and no matter what happened next, they would never be the same two people ever again.

"Go back to sleep, doll," Bucky said as he grabbed his hat from the table where he'd left it the night before. "Steve will probably be back before too long and it'll be good for him to find you here."

She didn't have the heart to tell him that his friend was currently in Jersey begin hazed by brutes twice his size as he tried to prove himself worthy of Project: Rebirth. Instead she fixed another fake smile on her face and willed the tears to wait for a few more minutes. "I'll be sure to lock up when I leave."

"I love you, YN."

"I love you, too, Bucky."

With one final kiss, he was gone. YN shut the door once he'd disappeared around the corner of the stairwell and leaned back against it for a moment. She took a few deep breaths as she tried to figure out what to do next. Her Bucky was most likely waiting for her back at Howard's and there was always a chance that Steve and Strange might show up, so it was probably best to head back to Manhattan.

She straightened up and started making her way back to the bedroom to retrieve her shoes, but before she'd made it to the hallway, the dam broke. An overwhelming feeling of guilt flooded her system as she realized that she'd just sent the man she loved into the seventh level of hell. As she fell to her knees in the floor, she realized that there was a chance that he would never forgive her for this. She wasn't sure she would ever forgive herself, so she couldn't be angry with him for holding a grudge.

She wrapped her arms around herself as the sobs tore through her. All of her life she'd yearned for someone to love – someone that would love her in return – and she'd just sent him to a fate worse than death. Maybe it was best if she didn't go back to Howard's. She wasn't sure she could handle looking Bucky in the eye knowing what she'd just done.

 

Bucky had lain awake all night as the memories of his last night with YN played through his mind. Through his memories he'd learned things about her that he'd never known before. He'd had to read between the lines when she'd deliberately been vague so the younger version of himself didn't realize that she was talking about events in the early twenty-first century and not the twentieth.

When the first tear had fallen from her eyes, he knew the morning would be brutal for her. That's why he was currently lurking in an alleyway in Brooklyn waiting for the younger version of himself to leave.

He'd thought he'd prepared himself to see the man he used to be, but he'd been wrong. The man that exited the apartment building shared his face, but there was still an innocence in his eyes that Bucky hadn't seen in decades.

He watched as his younger self looked back up toward the window of his apartment. A part of him wanted the younger man to go back up and spare them both a lifetime of pain and torment, but just like YN had pointed out weeks ago, the future needed to play out the way it was intended if they ever wanted to return home to a world they recognized.

Bucky waited until his younger self had rounded the corner before emerging from his hiding spot and heading toward the door. He had a feeling he knew what he would find once he entered the apartment, so he took the stairs two at a time.

The spare key was in its usual hiding spot above the door and he wasted no time fitting into the lock and turning the knob. The sight that greeted him was one that tore his heart to shreds. She was on her knees curled up in the middle of the living room floor crying her eyes out. He quickly shut the door and fell to the floor beside her.

"I'm here, doll," he whispered as he pulled her into his arms. "It's okay, now. I'm right here."

She'd reached the point where the sobs caused her words to catch in her throat, so he only made out every other word or so. He didn't need to hear what she said, though – he already knew. She was blaming herself for what had happened to him and was begging his forgiveness.

"There's nothing to forgive, doll. You didn't do this to me – HYDRA did and there was nothing you or I could do to stop it. I'll never blame you for what they did." He wrapped his arms around her a little tighter as he whispered in her ear. "I love you, YN."

He continued to repeat those words over and over again so she would stop blaming herself. It was killing him to see how much she was suffering, but he didn't know what else he could do but keep telling her that he loved her and that it wasn't her fault.

Bucky had no idea how long the two of them sat in the floor, but eventually she cried herself to sleep in his arms. He continued to hold her close to him just so he could remind himself that all those years of torment would bring him back to her. He hated the thought of HYDRA ripping his memories of her away from him again and again, but there was nothing he could do to stop it. He was just as helpless to stop the future as she was, and he felt an overwhelming sense of guilt for not only the pain the younger version of himself would endure, but for putting her in this position in the first place.

He continued to hold her long after she'd fallen asleep, but there was nowhere they needed to be at the moment, so there was no reason to leave until they were ready. He'd just about fallen asleep himself when he felt the familiar hand grasp his shoulder. Letting out a sigh of relief, a smile spread across his face.

"Time to go home, pal."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _Thank you for reading Part 20 of this story!  I hope you enjoyed it! I’m so excited to finally get to this part! This was the idea that sparked this whole story and it’s such a relief to share it with you after all this time! I’ve spent months agonizing over what should actually happen in this part, but after rereading it, I’m glad I took the path I did - I think their night has a deeper meaning the way it played out. I’ll fully admit that I cried right along with the Reader and I feel her guilt like it’s my own! I’m not sure I would have been strong enough to let him go. What about you guys? What would you have done? And then we have those five words. . . I can’t wait to hear what you think about that cliffhanger! I look forward to your comments!_


	21. Chapter 21

_**New York – Present Day** _

The world seemed to move in slow motion for YN.  One second, Mordo had been held imprisoned by Strange's magic, and the next he was lunging for the glowing green pendant hanging from the other man's neck.  YN wasn't sure what would happen if Mordo got his hand on the Eye, but she knew that he was the last person on Earth who needed to be in possession of it.  Instinctively she reached out to try to stop Mordo, but it was as though she was moving through quicksand.  Helplessly she watched as Mordo's hand wrapped around the Eye.  Strange had reacted by pulling away, but he was too late.  YN watched in horror as the chain holding the pendant snapped in two, but just as Mordo tightened his grasp on the Eye, a repulsor blast hit his wrist.

Writhing in pain, Mordo's grip on the Eye loosened and the pendant began to fall to the ground.  The glass encasing the green stone shattered causing the stone to begin bouncing across the pavement.  YN started to call out for everyone to move away, but her voice was caught in her throat.  She watched as the stone bounced toward the group of Avengers around her and panic welled up within her as she saw Barnes reach out to catch it.

"No," she screamed, her voice finally coming back to her.  Without thinking, she lunged toward Barnes to stop him.  She grabbed his arm, but she was too late – he'd already wrapped the fingers of his right hand around the stone.

Everyone froze when YN and Bucky suddenly disappeared in front of their eyes.  Tony was the first to react as he flew over to Mordo and shoved a hand in his face, the repulsor in his palm glowing as he prepared to blast the sorcerer.

"What did you do?" Tony snarled as his other hand gripped the front of Mordo's robes.

"That wasn't Mordo," Strange said as he walked over to where the Eye had landed after Bucky had tried to grab it.  He waved his hand and the glowing green stone vanished in an instant.

"Then where are our friends?" Steve asked.

"The real question is when, not where," Strange answered with a shake of his head.  "I'll need to consult my books to see if there's a way to pinpoint their exact location in time, but. . ."

"Wait a second," Nat interrupted.  "You're saying that they time traveled."

Strange motioned for the other sorcerers to start taking the prisoners into the Sanctum.  "Wong, please take Mordo and lock him up where he can't do any more harm today."

Wong nodded his head and waited for Tony to let the other man go before he used his magic to bind him and lead him into the building.  Strange waited for Wong to disappear before waving his hand again and collapsing the mirror dimension.

Steve was about to ask Strange another question, but before he could speak, a flash of bright red filled his vision.  Without a sound, the Spider-kid dropped down in front of them.

"Oh, wow," he said as he started waving his arms around frantically.  "That was so cool.  One minute the street was completely empty and then, Bam!, you guys all appeared.  It was like that scene from that really old movie about the Mummy that came to life and started killing everyone.  You guys know the one – they had to wait for sunrise before the lost city appeared. . ." he trailed off as he realized that everyone was staring at him like he was crazy.  "You guys have seen that movie, right?"

"Kid," Tony said, his voice full of exasperation.

"I'm so sorry Mr. Stark," Peter started to apologize.  "I had to wait until May left for work, or I swear I would have been here sooner."

Tony clapped a hand on his shoulder.  "It's okay.  We managed just fine without you."

"Really?" Nat asked as her eyes widened.  "Have you forgotten that YN and Bucky are lost somewhere in time and we might not be able to find them again?"

Tony opened his mouth to say something, but Peter twitched unexpectedly.  "You alright, kid?"

"Something's happening," Peter said as he began to shake his head.

A shockwave tore through their group as everyone's hands went to their heads and Steve fell to his knees.  Steve's face was contorted in pain and his lips were bared to reveal how hard he was clenching his teeth to withstand the pain.

The sudden headache passed quickly for most of them, but for Steve, it felt as though his mind was on fire.  He struggled to catch his breath as images began flashing through his mind's eye.  None of them made any sense at first, but once the pain started to recede he finally understood what had happened.

Nat was by his side as soon as the pain in her head had abated.  "Steve?  What's wrong?"

He struggled to his feet with one hand still pressed against his temple.  "Memories.  They were new memories. . .or old ones, I'm not really sure."

Tony eyed Steve warily.  "I saw images flash before my eyes.  Things I'd never seen before."

"I experienced it as well," Vision said as the stone in his forehead began to glow.  "I think the timeline has been altered in some way, but it's affected Captain Rogers more than the rest of us."

"YN and Bucky?" Nat asked.

Steve nodded his head.  "Yeah, and I know exactly where they are."

"I don't understand," Strange said with his brow furrowing in confusion.  "How could you possibly know. . ." He paused for a moment as realization dawned on him.  "Ah, they've gone back into your past.  That's why the sudden onslaught of new memories was more intense for you."

"If I give you an exact date and time, can you open a portal using the Eye?" Steve asked.

"I've never tried that before. . ." Strange began.

"But you think it can work?" Tony interrupted.

"I think it's our only hope to bring your friends back to the present."  Strange paused and took a breath.  "Let me go deal with Mordo and then I'll work on creating that portal."

Rhodey chose that moment to finally voice his concerns.  "You don't think it's more important to rescue our friends right now?"

"See, that's the beauty of time travel," Strange said in a condescending tone.  "We can wait as long as we need to, and as long as we go back to the moment they arrive in the past, then the timeline is unaffected."

"But the longer we wait, the more time they'll lose right now," Steve reasoned.

"Which is why you need to stop talking and let me take care of the more immediate threat." 

Steve's mouth set in a hard line as the sorcerer turned on his heal and with his cape billowing out behind him began walking up the stairs of the Sanctum.  

Steve shook his head and turned to the others.  "I guess we wait."  He let out a frustrated breath and looked at each of his team members.  "Is everyone okay?  Anyone hurt?"

Everyone started shaking their heads as they glanced around at one another.  Steve gave everyone a nod before putting his hands on his hips and dropping his head.

"Are you alright?" Nat asked as she laid a hand on his shoulder.

"I have all these new memories," he began as he tried to figure out how to put his thoughts into words.  "But I can still remember the way it was before."

"I know Strange said that he'd like to open the portal the instant they appear in the past, but for some reason, I don't think that's going to happen."

"Why do you say that?"

Nat took a deep breath and looked around to make sure no one was listening in on their conversation.  "Why would you have all these new memories if YN and Bucky are only in the past for a few minutes?"

"Because I'm not going to let Strange go back to the point in time he wants to," Steve explained with a sigh.  "I can't explain it right now, but once we get them back, I'll tell you everything I know."

Nat wanted to press him for more answers, but she trusted Steve's judgment.  If he thought there was a reason to let their friends stay in the past a little longer than Strange planned, then she'd back him up.

"What about the timeline?"

Steve looked up to see his friends heading back into the Sanctum.  "The timeline has already been changed.  Other than me, I don't think it really affected anyone else adversely."

Nat furrowed her brow.  "I remember the images I saw when the pain started, but I can't figure out why they're important."

"Do you remember those events before the new memories appeared?"

Nat closed her eyes and thought for a moment.  "No, I can't.  But why can you?"

Steve shook his head.  "It's gotta be the serum."

"Probably."  She let out a sigh and began heading into the Sanctum.  "Do you think anyone else will remember both sets of memories?"

"I wouldn't think so.  Most people in the world should be unaffected, and those that were will probably just write it off as a sudden headache."

"I hope you're right."

"Me too," Steve said as he nodded to Nat and headed toward his room – he needed time to think about his plan for rescuing YN and Bucky from the past.

 

Strange knocked on his door about an hour later and told him he was ready to try the portal.  Steve got up off of his bed and followed the sorcerer to a large empty training room.  Somehow Tony had found out what was going on because he entered the room a few moments after Steve and Strange had made their way to the center.

"I don't care if you stay and watch, but don't interfere," Strange warned as he waved a hand and called forth the Eye.

"How does this work?" Steve asked.

"Wong and I experimented for a bit and this works best if I'm touching you while you concentrate on the specific time and place."

Steve nodded his head as Strange laid a hand on his shoulder.  He watched as the Eye began to glow, but when Strange nodded at him he closed his eyes and focused on the exact moment he'd spent the past hour debating about.  He heard the telltale sound of a portal being opened, but he kept his eyes shut until Strange removed his hand from his shoulder.  

Opening his eyes, he saw his friends huddled together on the floor of his old apartment comforting one another.  His heart broke as he saw first hand how hard it had been for them to live through the past few weeks.  He almost felt guilty for leaving them in the past so long, but seeing them wrapped in one another's arms was all the proof he needed to know that he'd made the right call.

He stepped through the portal and walked over to Bucky.  Laying a hand on his shoulder he said, "Time to go home, pal."

Steve felt Bucky's shoulders sag in relief before his friend turned to face him as he shook his head in frustration.  "About damn time, punk."

Steve let out a chuckle at the familiar nickname, but his smile faded when he saw YN's face for the first time.  Her eyes were slightly swollen and he assumed it was due to the tears she'd shed as she'd bid farewell to the younger version of Bucky.

"How is she?"

Bucky looked back down at YN and ran a hand lightly down her tear-stained face.  "She's been better, but she'll be glad to see you when she wakes up."  

Bucky's legs ached from kneeling in the floor for so long, but he did his best to stand up as gracefully as he could so he didn't wake the woman sleeping in his arms.  Once he was on his feet, Steve reached out and grabbed the hem of her dress between his fingers and started smiling.

"I remember this dress," he said with a wistful look in his eye.  "She looked so pretty that night."

"You remember?" Bucky asked.

Steve met Bucky's eye.  "I remember everything."

"What the hell have you done?" Strange asked with barely contained fury.

"What I needed to do," Steve said with a smirk.  "Don't worry, your precious timeline isn't screwed up too much."

Without sparing him another glance, Steve led Bucky back through the portal and into the training room of the Sanctum.  Tony had been anxiously waiting to see if Strange could actually open a portal in time to rescue YN and Bucky.

Tony took one look at YN's seemingly lifeless body in Bucky's arms and began running across the room.  "What have you done to her?"

Tony's voice echoed throughout the room, and with a start, YN awoke.  She was disoriented and confused as she looked up at Bucky questioningly, but when she heard Tony's voice she twisted around in Bucky's arms to see if he was really there or if her mind was playing tricks on her.

"Tony," she cried out with a look of elation on her face.

Bucky's heart broke into a thousand pieces in that instant.  After all they'd been through in the past few weeks, she obviously still harbored feelings for the other man.  He turned away and his eyes met Steve's.  The look of pity in his friend's eyes was all the confirmation he needed to know that he wasn't overreacting.

"I'll kill him," Tony growled as he reached out to take YN from Bucky's arms.

"What?" YN asked as her smile turned to confusion and she recoiled from Tony's outstretched arms.

Tony stopped dead in his tracks as he allowed his mind to start putting the pieces together.  She and Barnes were both dressed in clothes they hadn't been wearing an hour before, and there was something different about them – something he couldn't quite put his finger on.  He turned his accusatory glare onto Steve.

"Rogers."

Steve held up his hands.  "I'll explain it all later, I promise, but right now I think YN and Bucky need some time to rest."

YN's head swiveled around and tears welled up in her eyes as she took in the sight of Steve standing off to the side.  Part of her wanted to hug him and the other part wanted to throttle him.  Torn between the two urges, she looked back up at Bucky.

"We're really home?" she asked as she slid her hands from around his neck to cup his face.  "I'm not dreaming?"

Seeing the look in her eyes had hope welling up in him again.  He'd been sure that she'd forgotten all they'd shared in 1942 when she'd seen Tony again, but after she'd burrowed back into his arms away from the billionaire he'd started to question his first assessment of the situation.  And now that she was looking at him the way she'd been for the past few weeks, he was almost sure that the love they'd found had been real.

"Yeah, doll, we're home."

She leaned in and kissed him, and in that moment Bucky knew he had nothing to worry about.  Ignoring Tony's shocked gasp, he lost himself in her kiss.

Tony took a step back and glanced toward Steve.  He narrowed his eyes at the blond when he saw the look of pure joy radiating on his face.  Stalking across the room, he jabbed a finger into Steve's chest.

"What the hell did you do, Rogers?"

"I'd like an explanation as well," Strange added with a leer.  "This was not the plan we agreed upon."

"I'm not looking for forgiveness, and I'm way past asking permission."  Steve cocked an eyebrow at the two angry men and walked toward Bucky and YN.  "Why don't you two head upstairs and get some rest."

Strange shook his head and began stalking from the room.

Bucky was still gazing lovingly into YN's eyes, but hers had gone wide.  "Wait a second. What about your memories?"

"What memories, doll?"

Before YN could clarify, they were both struck with an sharp pain that had them both gasping.  Steve rushed forward and took YN from Bucky's arms as his friend dropped to his knees in agonizing pain.

"It'll pass," Steve whispered to YN as she clutched the sides of her head and whimpered.

Once the pain had gone, YN opened her eyes and met Steve's briefly before turning to Bucky.  He was still on his knees in pain and her heart ached for him as she wondered what would happen once he'd had a chance to process the new memories.

"Bucky?" she whispered once he'd dropped his hands to the floor and began taking deep breaths.

"Whew," he said as he looked back up at her and Steve.  "I truly hope that's the last time my memories get screwed with."

"You okay, Buck?" Steve asked.

YN tapped Steve's arm and he let her down slowly.  Once her feet were on the floor again, she hesitantly walked over to Bucky and knelt on the floor beside him.  She reached out a hand hopefully.

"Nothing's changed, doll," he told her as he took her hand and laid it against his cheek.  "I know what you're thinking and I'll never stop loving you, no matter what."

"You've got to be kidding me," Tony said as he threw up his hands and glared at YN.  Pointing a finger at her he asked, "You're in love with him?  After everything he's done?"

YN drew her hand away from Bucky's cheek and stood up.  A look of pure rage filled her eyes as she stalked toward the man she'd thought she'd been in love with for over a decade.  "You have no idea what he's been through, Tony, and you of all people have no right to judge.  Who I love is absolutely none of your concern, but I'll tell you now – if you want to continue to be my friend, you will put aside your misplaced anger and accept the fact that HYDRA is the reason your parents are dead, not Bucky."

"You'd choose him over me?" Tony asked although he was scared he already knew the answer to his question.

"Coming in second isn't a feeling you're used to, is it?"  She watched the realization dawn in Tony's eyes.  "I get it.  Because now I know what it feels like to be someone's first priority and I'll never go back to begging for scraps from anyone – not even you."

Without waiting for a response, she turned around and held out a hand toward Bucky.  He grabbed her hand and rose to his feet as she began leading him from the room.

Steve stepped closer to Tony and clapped a hand on his shoulder.  "You had to know this was bound to happen someday."

Tony rolled his eyes and let out a huff.  "Yeah, but him?"

"I told you years ago that I knew guys worth ten of you," Steve reminded him.  "The man the just left?  He's one of them."

Steve didn't wait for Tony to respond, but instead patted him on the back and then turned to leave.  He'd told Bucky and YN to go rest, but he felt an urge to go see her.  He knew it was because of his new memories of her from back in 1942 and his desire to see if their friendship would still be the same as he now remembered.

"Rogers," Tony yelled across the room just as Steve was about to walk out the door.

Steve turned around and raised an eyebrow in question.

Tony walked across the room and stopped a few feet away from Steve.  "Tell me one thing.  Why did you leave them in the past for so long?"

One side of Steve's lips drew up in a smirk.  "Because Bucky told me to."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _Thank you for reading Part 21 of this story!  I hope you enjoyed it! And we’re back in the present!! Yay!! So, I know some of you were wondering why Steve waited so long to come back for them, and now you know! Or at least, now you know some of it! I do love my cliffhangers! What did you think of her reunion with Tony? Do you feel like she got her point across well enough? Will Tony be able to forgive and move on, or will he always harbor a grudge toward Bucky? Did you enjoy Peter’s entrance? I love adding him in as comic relief! My original plan has the next part being the last, and now I’m so sad! I hate to say goodbye to this story, but alas, all good things much come to an end. I look forward to your comments!_


	22. Chapter 22

YN let out a sigh of relief as she slipped on the leggings and oversized t-shirt.  "This.  This is what I've missed the most about the twenty-first century."

"Really?" Bucky asked as he lay on the bed and watched YN wiggle into the stretchy pants she so obviously adored.  "I, for one, am going to miss the outfits you've been wearing these past few weeks."

YN fixed him with a sultry look as she walked over to the bed and pushed him onto his back before straddling his lap.  "Oh, don't worry about that.  I plan to hit up the first Victoria's Secret I can find and buy all kinds of lingerie for you to help me out of."

Bucky let out a low growl as he sat up and captured her lips with his.  His hands snaked up the back of her loose shirt to explore the soft skin of her back as she used her teeth and tongue to drive him crazy.

They would have probably ripped each other's clothes off before too long, but a knock on the door had them reluctantly breaking away with a sigh.

"Come in," Bucky called out, earning him a glare from YN.

"You didn't lock the door?"

"I didn't think you were going to jump me," he offered as an explanation.

"Am I interrupting?" Steve asked as he peeked his head in the door

"Yes," YN said with a wink.

"No," Bucky answered as he glared at YN.

YN leaned in and gave Bucky one more kiss before she got up off of the bed and started walking toward Steve.  "How much do you remember?"

Steve pulled her into a bone crushing hug, and YN took that to mean that he remembered everything.  She wrapped her arms around him, but it felt strange to her.  Pulling back, she frowned and poked one of his shoulders.

"What?" Steve asked, suddenly concerned.

"You're so big.  I miss little Steve."

"He missed you, too," Steve told her as he pulled her back into his arms.

"Yeah?" Bucky asked.  "Do you remember both versions?"

Steve held onto YN, but looked at Bucky over her shoulder.  "I do.  It's so weird.  What about you, do you remember both?"

Bucky nodded his head.  "It's the serum, isn't it?"

YN stepped out of Steve's embrace and looked between both men.  "I remember them both as well."

"Maybe it's because you actually lived through it instead of just being affected by the aftermath," Steve said with a shrug.

YN's demeanor changed in an instant.  Her joyful smile faded as anger burned hot in her eyes.  "Speaking of which. . ." She stopped speaking to punch him in the shoulder.  When she started speaking again, she paused in between each word to punch him.  "Why. . .did. . .you. . .wait. . .so. . .long?"

Steve took a step back and began rubbing his shoulder.  "Ow."

"Oh, I'm sorry, was that uncomfortable?  You know what else is uncomfortable?  Try thinking that you're going to be stranded eighty years in the past because your buffoon of a best friend can't take a simple hint."

Steve hung his head in shame and grimaced.  "I'm sorry?"

Her anger left as quickly as it had come and she let out a sigh when she saw his pitiful expression.  "Steven Grant Rogers, you're insufferable."  She stepped closer to him and framed his face in her hands.  "But why?"

He leaned in and gave her a kiss on the forehead.  "That's not my story to tell."

She tilted her head as she considered his words.  If it wasn't his story, then who's was it?

"I think it's time I told you the truth, doll," Bucky said, drawing her attention away from Steve and back to him.

"What are you talking about, Bucky?" she asked as her breath caught in her throat.

"I can leave if you want to do this alone," Steve said.

"No," Bucky told as he gestured to a chair across the room.  "Stay.  I might need you to help me explain this."

Bucky reached for YN's hand and drew her back to the bed with him.  She curled her legs up under her as she sat facing him with a look of worry on her face.  He ran a hand through his hair as he tried to figure out where to start.

"Okay," he said as he let out a deep breath.  "You know that Shuri and Wanda helped remove the trigger words and restore the memories that I'd lost over the years."

"Yes," YN said as she nodded her head.  "You told me all about Wanda risking her life to help you and how angry Shuri was that you'd refused her initial offer."

Bucky let out a deep sigh.  "There's something I didn't tell you about."

YN saw the look on Bucky's face and she knew she probably wasn't going to like what he was about to say next.  "Tell me now."

 

_**Wakanda – Two Years Ago** _

"White people are idiots," Shuri muttered under her breath as she shook her head in frustration.  "Captain, bring me your friend right away."

Steve looked from Wanda to Bucky and then back at Shuri in confusion.

"Her," Shuri said, pointing to Wanda's nearly unconscious form on the table.

Steve scooped Wanda up and walked over to lay her down on a table that Shuri indicated.  "What are you going to do?"

"First of all, I'm going to ease her pain," Shuri explained as she began tapping icons on the monitor beside the bed.  "Then I'm going to make sure she didn't do any damage to her mind and fix it if she did."

"You can do that?"

Shuri pursed her lips and shook her head again.  "If you had allowed me to fix Sergeant Barnes' mind to begin with, I wouldn't have to."

Steve let out a sigh as he looked down at Wanda.  "She wanted to help – trying to atone for some of the choices she's made in the past."

"By dying?"

"Wanda knows her own limits.  Don't underestimate her."

Shuri turned back to the screen and her eyes widened when she saw the brain scans.  "I've never seen anything like this before.  How did you say she got her abilities?"

"Thor calls them Infinity Stones," Steve explained.  "HYDRA got their hands on the Mind Stone and used it to alter Wanda's, and her twin brother's, genetic makeup to give them their powers."

"Fascinating," Shuri said as she continued studying the scans.  Once she was sure that Wanda would suffer no ill effects from her journey into Bucky's mind, she had Steve move her and help Bucky transfer to the other table.

"How are you feeling, Sergeant Barnes?" Shuri asked once Bucky had taken a seat on the table.

"Bucky," he corrected before he lifted his legs and lay flat on the table.

"Very well.  How are you feeling, Bucky?"

"Good."

"I'm going to run a few scans to make sure that Ms. Maximoff didn't miss anything.  The brain is tricky sometimes and likes to hide its secrets well."

"Do what you gotta," Bucky said as he closed his eyes and braced himself for the pain.

Shuri laid a hand on his arm.  "This will cause you no pain.  Those days are over, at least in my lab."

Bucky smiled and relaxed as best he could.

"What do you see?" Steve asked as he looked over Shuri's shoulder.

"There's something here," she told him as she pointed to a section of the brain scan that was darker than the rest.  "I'm not sure what it is."

"Do you think it's wise to go poking around in his brain if you're not sure what you'll find?"

She took a deep breath and swiveled around to meet his gaze.  "If HYDRA has any more surprises left, I'd say it's best to uncover them now rather than later."

Steve shrugged and let out a sigh.  "Good point."

She turned back to the monitor and began tapping the screen again.  Steve watched in awe as a beam of light from above the exam table centered on Bucky's forehead.  Shuri glanced from the monitor to Bucky and back to the monitor again.

"Just a few more seconds," she said as the scan showed the darker section starting to lighten.

Bucky let out a gasp as his eyes flew open.  Shuri quickly shut down the device and jumped to her feet as she rushed to Bucky's side.

"Are you okay?" she asked.  "Are you in pain?"

"No," Bucky said as he shook his head.  "It's just more memories coming to the surface."

"Memories of what, Buck?" Steve asked.

Shuri helped him sit up so that his legs were dangling off the side of the table.  He gave her a weak smile and squeezed her hand before turning back to Steve.

"Memories of YN," Bucky finally answered with a confused look on his face.

Steve's brow furrowed.  "I don't understand.  You only met YN a few days ago in Germany.  Or did you meet her on a mission as the Soldier that you'd forgotten about."

Bucky let out a long breath as he tried to wrap his head around what he was about to say.  "No, not as the Soldier.  I remember her from 1942."

 

_**New York – Present Day** _

YN got up off of the bed and began pacing the length of the small room before turning around and giving Bucky a long look.  "Let me get this straight.  Shuri – King T'Challa's little sister – accidentally unlocked your memories of me from 1942. . .before we travelled back in time."

Bucky looked to Steve for help.

"I was there, YN," Steve said as he got up and moved to stand in front of her.  Reaching down, he grabbed her hands.  "I didn't understand it at first, either, but now it all makes sense."

She let go of Steve's hands and moved to sit on the bed with Bucky again.  "How was that possible?"

"I don't know," Bucky admitted.  "All I know is that after she did whatever she did, I had all these memories of our time together in 1942."

"Why didn't you tell me?" she asked as her eyes pleaded with him to help her understand.

"And what would you have said if I had told you that we had previously met in 1942 and fell in love?"

"Okay, fine.  I would've thought you were crazy.  But that doesn't explain why you didn't tell me that Steve would show up the morning after the Expo to take us home.  I can't believe you kept that from me for weeks when you knew I thought he was dead."

Steve's eyes grew round with shock.  "You thought I was dead?" 

She gave Steve a sorrowful look.  "Yeah.  It was the only logical explanation for why you hadn't come back for us yet.  Well, either that, or you were the biggest idiot in the world and couldn't take a hint."

"I wasn't sure Steve was coming back for us," Bucky said, drawing YN's attention back to him.

"What do you mean?  You just said Shuri unlocked those memories two years ago."

"She unlocked the memories I had from 1942 – the version of me that you met there," he explained.  "I had no memories of the two of us going back in time.  Don't ask me why, but for some reason the universe only saw fit to give me one side of the story."

YN took another breath and looked up at the ceiling to collect her thoughts.  "Okay, let me see if I understand.  You remembered meeting me at the Three Deuces. . .?"

"That was my first memory of you," Bucky said with a wistful smile.  "God, you were so beautiful that night.  And so feisty."  He reached over and brushed a hand down her cheek.  "I think I fell in love with you that night as you were yelling at me on the dance floor."

She let out a soft chuckle as she remembered the night in question.  "You were so cocky.  I had to put you in your place."

"But you let me kiss you," he reminded her.

"And then I went back to Howard's and I let you. . ."

"Okay, that's enough for me," Steve said as he jumped to his feet and started for the door.  "I think you can handle it from here, Buck."

"Sit back down, Rogers," YN ordered as she pointed to the chair he'd just vacated.  "You're an adult, you can handle it."

Steve sighed and returned to his seat.  "Can you please refrain from going into too much detail, though?"

Bucky laughed as he shook his head.  "Sure thing, pal." He turned back to YN.  "Where were we?  Oh, right, that first night.  I'll fully admit, I was terrified that night."

"Why?" she asked.  "You already knew I was going to fall in love with you.  What were you scared of?"

He reached out and took her hands.  "I was scared you were only in love with him."

"Not this again," she said as she rolled her eyes.  "You and him are the same person, Bucky."

"I know that now," Bucky said with a huff.  "But you have to remember that I only had one set of memories to go off of.  I only knew how you felt about the 1942 version of me."

"And yet you let me go out every night not knowing if I'd only fall in love with the younger version of you."

"Yeah," he said.  "I was praying that as you fell in love with him, you'd somehow find it in your heart to love me as well."

"I fell in love with you first," she reminded him.

"I had no way of knowing that at the time, though."

YN took a deep breath as she tried to imagine what Bucky must have been going through while they were stuck back in time.  He'd not only had to deal with his guilt concerning Howard, but he also had the stress of not knowing if she would ever love him the way he was in the present, or if she'd only loved the man he used to be.

"I'm curious," she said after a few moments.  "Once Shuri unlocked those memories, did you think I'd somehow traveled back in time, or did you think I was reincarnated, or what?"

Bucky looked at Steve and they both began to shake their heads.  "Neither one of us had a logical explanation.  We went over all the different possibilities, but since Steve didn't have those memories yet, we decided it must be some type of brain damage from when HYDRA used to wipe my mind."

A sad look came over YN's face.  "And you had to live with that thought for two years."

"Finding out the truth behind those memories made the trip back in time worth it all."

She leaned in and kissed him.  For a moment, they forgot about Steve until he began loudly clearing his throat to remind them that they weren't alone.

"Sorry," YN said with an apologetic shrug.

"It's good to see you two like this," Steve said with a smile.  "It reminds me of the old days when the three of us would hit the town."

"I still can't believe you had all those memories of our time together and you never said anything."  YN gave Bucky a long look before her expression slowly morphed into one of surprise.  "Wait a second.  Prague.  And the plane.  That's why you were staring at me, wasn't it?"

Bucky let out a relieved breath.  "It's so good to finally tell you the truth.  Those first few days I spent with you were absolute torture.  I had all these memories of dancing with you and kissing you – spending that night lying in bed and talking until we both fell asleep.  I thought none of it was real, but then seeing you again. . ."

"That's why you were acting the way you were once we got back to the compound," she mused aloud.  "I couldn't figure out why you were acting so possessive in front of Tony."

Bucky's eyes grew hard.  "It just about killed me to see the way you looked at him."

"And that's why you couldn't stand Howard at first," she added with a laugh.

"The apple doesn't fall too far from the tree, huh?" Steve asked with a smile.  "I take it Howard hit on you?"

"Oh yeah," YN said as she started to laugh.  "Especially once he thought I was a super soldier."

"Why did he think that?"

"We may have led him to believe that the program produced more than just one," Bucky admitted with a grin.  "It ensured that he'd let us stay with him until you came back for us."

Steve snapped his fingers excitedly.  "Avengers Tower.  Tony built the tower in the same spot that Howard had his house in the forties."

"He was a huge help to us," YN told Steve.  "I don't know how we would've survived if it hadn't been for Howard, Jarvis, and Ana."

"I'm sorry you had to go through that, guys," Steve said with a sad look on his face.  "Like Bucky, I only knew one half of the story, so I thought I needed to wait until the day we both left New York to come back for you two.  I wanted to make sure you had enough time to fall in love."

"Admit it, Rogers," YN teased.  "You just wanted to spend those last few weeks hanging out with me so you'd have someone to watch your back in those alleys."

"Just how many fights did you two get into?" Bucky asked with a laugh.

YN and Steve shared a conspiratorial look.  With a laugh, YN answered, "More than we told either version of you."

"I have an admission to make," Steve said with a bashful look toward YN.

"What?"

"I saw you use magic that day."

"You did?  Why didn't you say something?"

"I didn't know what to say, but I was scared that if I told you that I'd seen what you could do, you'd disappear on me."

"Okay, I still have one question that needs answered," YN said as she gave Steve a look.  "How did you know to come to the apartment that morning and not Howard's?"

Steve let out a breath.  "I spent a good hour weighing my options before Strange and I attempted the portal.  The last memory I had of you was walking away with Bucky at the Expo.  I figured you'd want to spend as much time with him as you could, and the only place that would afford you the privacy you wanted was the apartment."  Steve paused and looked at Bucky.  "I remember how hard Bucky took it when he asked Howard about you during the war and Howard told him that he hadn't seen you since the Expo.  I figured you wouldn't have taken Bucky leaving for the war all that well, and I guess I was hoping that this idiot would realize that as well and go to you instead of making you find your way back to Manhattan on your own."

YN shook her head.  "None of this seems real, you know?  I mean, how is any of this possible?"

"The only thing I can figure out is that it was meant to be," Bucky said.

"Like fate?" YN asked.

"Yeah, something like that," Bucky agreed.  "I mean, how else could Shuri have unlocked those memories if we weren't meant to go back in time?"

YN looked from Bucky to Steve.  "So, what happens now?"

Bucky shrugged his shoulders and looked to Steve for an answer.

"Tony is pretty sure the amendments to the Accords will go through and then we can all come out of hiding for good," Steve told them.  "If it doesn't, I'd like for us to stay together from here on out."

YN and Bucky shared a look before YN turned back to Steve.  "Nat will invited as well, right?"

Steve's face took on a slightly pink hue as he began to rub the back of his neck.  "Sure.  I mean, the two of you are pretty close, right?"

"Just admit that you have a crush on Romanoff," Bucky said with an exasperated sigh.  "Didn't you learn anything with Peggy?"

"I've been a little busy the past couple of years trying not to get arrested," Steve said with an angry look on his face.  "What have you been doing, you jerk?  Oh, that's right, you've been hiding out in Wakanda playing with your goats and brooding over YN."

"Wait a second," YN said as she raised a finger in the air.  "No one told me anything about goats."

 

Bucky waited until YN was asleep before quietly getting out of bed.  They'd both had an emotional day and while she'd passed out almost immediately after Steve had left, Bucky couldn't get his mind to shut down.  

He glanced at her one last time to make sure that she was still peacefully sleeping before slipping through the door into the hallway.  He had no destination in mind, he just needed to get up and move.  His mind went back to that first night in Howard's house when he'd felt the same way as he did now.  YN had been on his mind that night as well, but it was different this time.  Back then he'd been agonizing over whether or not his memories of her were about to happen and if she would grow to love him as he loved her.  Now he worried about what it would be like to spend his life on the run with her.  He knew she'd been running for most of her life, and he desperately wanted a better life for her.  He thought about asking T'Challa if the four of them could go back to Wakanda if the Accords couldn't be amended, but he knew that none of the others would be content to sit on the sidelines for more than a week or two.

Bucky was lost in his thoughts, so he didn't notice Stark sitting in the darkened library until he was almost on top of him.  "Sorry, I'll leave," Bucky said once he realized he wasn't alone.

"No," Tony said as he nodded toward the seat beside him.  "Stay.  We need to talk."

Bucky wasn't in the mood for a fight, but maybe it would be better to just get it over with, especially since YN wasn't around to witness it.  "Say whatever you need to."

"YN deserves better than you."

"She deserves better than you, too."

"Touché," Tony said with a smirk.  "I can admit that I haven't exactly played fair when it came to her."

"You used her feelings for you to manipulate and control her."

Tony took off his glasses and rubbed the bridge of his nose.  "I may have purposefully ignored how strong her feelings were for me. . ." He held up a hand when Bucky started to interrupt him.  "But I have a new perspective on things."

"How so?"

"Edwin Jarvis was more of a father to me than Howard ever was," Tony said as he let out a deep breath.  "I've talked to a few of the others, and they can't remember what things were like before you two screwed with the timeline."

"But you can?" Bucky asked as his curiosity got the better of him.

Tony tapped his temple.  "Genius level IQ, I guess.  But yeah, I remember both versions of events."

"What changed for you?"

"Not a lot.  But now I have all these memories of Jarvis telling me a bedtime story about two time travelers from the future.  He painted them as two love-struck heroes who'd gotten lost in time and needed his help to get back to the future."  Tony paused as he let out a chuckle.  "I can remember loving that story as a kid.  I'd always thought the couple were based off of my parents, but now I realize it was you and YN."

"And that pisses you off, doesn't it."

"God, yes."

Bucky started laughing and Tony joined in after a few moments.

"There's something else I want to talk to you about," Tony said once the moment of levity had passed.  He pulled out his device and brought up a video.  "Care to explain this?"

Bucky was unprepared for the onslaught of emotions that accompanied the images he was looking at.  The blood in his veins was like ice as his heart seized up in his chest.  Once again, he was stuck in a room watching himself murder the man who had once been his friend while that man's son looked on accusingly.

"Stark," Bucky said, hoping the other man would take pity on him and stop the video.

"Just a minute more," Tony said as he watched Bucky's face carefully.

Bucky forced himself to watch every second, if only to remind himself that even though he'd earned the love of the most wonderful woman in the world, deep down he was still a monster.

"This is the part that gets me," Tony said as he used his fingers to zoom in on the image of his father's face.

Howard was looking at the Soldier with fear in his eyes, but at the last moment, recognization dawned.  "Sergeant Barnes?"  Howard paused before letting out a sigh and nodding his head.  "I understand now.  I forgive you, son."

Tony stopped the video there, not for Bucky's sake, but so he wouldn't have to watch his parents die again.  "Care to explain what he meant by that?  Cause I know he didn't say that the first time I saw that footage."

"I spent some time with Howard while YN was trying to work on getting us a way back home," Bucky explained once he was able to speak again.  "I didn't tell him what I'd done, but he figured out it was something horrible.  I know I had no right to ask for his forgiveness, but. . ."

"But you still feel like it's your fault?"

"It is my fault."

Tony turned and looked away for a moment.  "I want to believe that.  God knows I do.  But I'm an intelligent man and I just can't ignore facts because it'll be more convenient for me."

"What are you saying?"

"I'll never forget that it was your hands that brought about their death, but I can admit that it wasn't your choice.  You and I will never be friends, but if you'd like, there's a place at the compound for you and YN."

"You're serious?" Bucky asked with a look of disbelief in his eye.

"I want my family back, Barnes," Tony explained.  "And the only way I get that is if I put my own personal feelings about you aside and take a page out of Dad's book and forgive you."

"I don't deserve your forgiveness."

"No, you don't," Tony agreed.  "But you'll get it nonetheless.  Dad had a way of seeing greatness in people, and he obviously saw something in you.  Plus, I know Steve will never agree to stay unless you do, so my hands are tied."

"Thank you."

"Don't thank me yet," Tony warned him.  "If you ever do anything to hurt YN, I won't hesitate to kill you."

Bucky leaned forward and looked him straight in the eye.  "I'd rather die than hurt her."

"I guess we're on the same page then," Tony said as he extended a hand toward the other man.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _Thank you for reading Part 22 of this story! I hope you enjoyed it!  It’s been a long journey, but now that we’re at the end, we finally have all of the answers to the questions that have been plaguing us for months! Did any of you guess that Bucky had actually remembered YN from 1942 all along? I’ve been sitting on that gem for so long now and I tried to drop little hints here and there throughout the story, but I didn’t want to accidentally give away this plot twist until I was ready! What did you think of Bucky’s talk with Tony? That is totally me projecting what I’d love to see in the MCU, but I think most of can agree that we just want all of our heroes to get along! I look forward to your comments!_
> 
> _**Side Note: There will be an Epilogue posted next week, so don’t start crying just yet!**_


	23. Epilogue

"I see an exit at your six," YN whispered as she scoped out the room she and Bucky were trapped in.

Bucky slowly looked over his shoulder so he could see what she was seeing, but he immediately began to shake his head.  "No good – that exit's been compromised."

"Dammit," she muttered under her breath.  "Do you have eyes on Rogers and Romanoff."

"Affirmative.  They've breached the entrance, but they're currently engaged with two hostiles.  They're no good to us now."

YN framed Bucky's face in her hands and she stared deeply into his eyes.  "This may be the end of the line. . ."

"You can't think like that, doll.  After everything we've been through, I refuse to believe that this is how our story ends."

"Bucky, if we don't make it out of this room in the next five minutes. . ."

"I love you.  You know that, don't you?"

"I love you more than anything in the world," YN said as she gazed into Bucky's eyes.

"I liked you two a whole lot better when you weren't dating," Sam muttered under his breath as he made his way toward YN and Bucky.

"You hate me just as much now as you did when we first met in Vienna," Bucky reminded him.

"True," Sam admitted.  "But I used to like YN."

"YN is standing right here and can hear every word you're saying," she said as she gave him a lethal stare.

"I don't know what you two are complaining about," Sam said, completely ignoring YN's comment like he normally did.  "The servers are starting to bring around the hors d'oeuvres and it looks like the bartenders are just about done setting up the open bar."

"Ooh, the bar's open?" YN asked as she craned her neck over the crowd of people between her and the promise of copious amounts of alcohol.

"I can't get drunk, doll," Bucky reminded her.  "Within an hour, you'll be able to dull your senses, but I'll still be painfully away of where we are."

"I've heard that Thor was planning to sneak in some Asgardian liquor Loki was able to squirrel away before they destroyed the place," Steve whispered as he and Nat joined the group of superheroes standing in the corner off to themselves.

"Is it powerful enough to overcome the serum?" Bucky asked.

Sam clapped Steve on the back as he began to laugh.  "Only time I've ever seen Cap drunk was at one of Stark's parties where Thor brought that stuff.  Some of the old WWII vets tried some of it and they had to be carried out of the Tower."

"I remember that night," Nat said with her signature smirk.  "You were wearing that blue shirt. . ."

"You remember what I was wearing?" Steve asked with a confused look on his face.

Nat tried to play it off with a shrug. "I'm an assassin, Steve, it's my job to pay attention to details.  Besides, it brought out your eyes."

YN and Bucky shared a knowing look.  They'd been subtly trying to get Steve and Nat to act on their feelings for the past few months, but so far they'd been unsuccessful.  They'd hoped the festive atmosphere of the wedding would help them along, and now with the promise of Thor's special brew they were sure they could finally get the two to admit they were in love with one another.

"Pepper will kill you all if she finds out Thor brought his own alcohol to her wedding," Sam warned with a wide-eyed look.  "I don't know about y'all, but I'm not about to piss that woman off today."

"Has anyone seen Thor since the ceremony?" Steve asked as he looked around the reception hall.

YN shook her head.  "He said something about an Asgadian wedding tradition he needed to get ready for Tony and Pepper."

Nat's eyes grew large as her smile began to fade.  "Why do I have a bad feeling about this?"

The group all gave one another worried looks before they collectively shook their heads and let out a sigh.  YN noticed a mischievous glint in Bucky's eye and deduced that he knew what Thor was planning which wasn't good news for the newlywed couple.  She leaned over and gave Bucky a quick kiss on the cheek before grabbing Nat's arm and leading her toward the bar on the other side of the room.

"I don't know about you, but I need a drink," YN told her as they began weaving their way through the hoard of guests.  "Have I told you how glad I am that I never have to bartend ever again?"

Nat laughed as she thread her arm through YN's.  "You don't have to pretend with me, you know."

YN glanced at her friend with a confused look before focusing her attention back to where they were headed.  "What do you mean?"

"I know you and Bucky have been joking all day about horrible this wedding is. . ."

"We're just messing around."

"Are you, though?"

YN stopped and turned to face her friend.  "If this were a year ago, I'd be a wreck.  Hell, I probably wouldn't even be here right now."  She took a deep breath as she glanced back at the man who'd changed everything for her and a smile began to form on her face.  "I'm happy for Tony and Pepper, I really am, but even you have to admit that it's awkward for me and Bucky to be here."

"Tony is really trying to put the past behind him and move forward," Nat said as her eyes grew wide.  "I'm not sure how you and Bucky changed the timeline to bring about this surprising turn of events. . ."

"Maybe Tony experienced some personal growth all by himself," YN argued.

Nat gave her a disbelieving look.  "Right."

YN rolled her eyes and flashed a smile at the man standing in front of her in the line to the open bar.  Just as she'd hoped, he stepped aside and let her skip in front of him.

Once she and Nat had ordered their drinks and started back toward the group, the blonde nudged YN with her hip and gave her a little smirk.  "I liked that move back there.  Nice one."

"It's easy to feel sexy when you have a man that practically worships the ground you walk on tell you you're the sexiest woman in the world on a daily basis."

"I never thought the two of you would get together."

"Why not?"

Nat shrugged one shoulder as she took a sip of her drink.  "You may not want to hear this, but you are not the same woman you were before you and Bucky took a little trip back in time."

"I'm not," YN agreed without hesitation.  "That experience changed my entire life.  The years we were on the run got me away from Tony physically, but my time in 1942 forced me into a reality where he literally didn't exist."

"It also didn't hurt that you had two versions of Bucky Barnes vying for your attention."

YN let out a self-satisfied sigh.  "You have no idea."

"You don't talk much about the younger version of Bucky," Nat said, hinting at the fact that she'd like to learn more about the man who'd trained her in the Red Room before he'd become HYDRA's puppet.

"Remember in Prague when you told me that one day I'd meet someone better than Tony?"

Nat nodded her head.  "I remember."

YN looked back toward Bucky who was laughing at something Steve had said.  "I'd like to think that I would've seen how amazing he was as he is right now, but meeting him before HYDRA got their claws into him helped me to see past the sad hobo persona he liked to hide behind."

"You would have seen it eventually," Nat assured her.  "You have good instincts about people."

"Speaking of which," YN said with a sly smile.  "You slipped up a bit back there with the mention of a certain blue shirt."

"I have no idea what you're talking about," Nat denied as she tried to change the subject.  "What do you think Thor is up to?"

"Uh-uh," YN said with a noice of disapproval.  "We're at a wedding – everyone's love life is up for discussion tonight."

"I don't have a love life."

"My point exactly."  YN gave her friend a knowing grin.  "But if you wanted one, I'm about ninety-nine point nine percent positive that you could end up wearing that the previously-mentioned blue shirt by tomorrow morning."

"Steve is not. . ."

"In love with you?" YN asked, interrupting Nat.  "I thought assassins were supposed to be observant."

Nat let out a huff and started to walk off, but YN grabbed her arm and forced her to stop.  She waited until the blonde was looking her in the eye before she began to speak again.

"What are you so scared of, Nat?"

"Who says I'm scared?  Maybe I'm just not interested in him like that?"

"Give me one good reason why not?"

"He's too much of a goody two-shoes."

YN let out a peal of laughter.  "Oh, honey, you have no idea.  You should have come back in time with me and met him before he took the serum.  I can't believe you of all people can't get past the Captain America mantle to see the man he really is."

"That's not true. . ."

"You know the truth, Nat, you just don't want to admit it because then you'll have to admit that you have feelings for him."

"He's one of my best friends."

"He's one of my best friends, too, but I can't tell you what color shirt he wore to a party five years ago."

"It was six years ago," Nat said before she could stop herself.  She saw the look of triumph in YN's eyes and realized that she'd been busted.  "Okay, so I pay more attention to him than I do the others.  I'm just not sure he can keep up with me. . .if you know what I mean."

A knowing smile spread across YN's face as she began to chuckle.  "What are you wearing under that dress?"

One of Nat's eyebrows shot straight up.  "Geez, YN, at least buy me a drink first."

"Seriously.  Are you wearing a garter with your stockings?"

"Okay, I'll bite," Nat said with a wary look in her eye.  "You know I prefer a garter."

"Then give Steve a reason to get his hand up your dress," YN said with a wink.  "I promise you won't be disappointed."

"Wait," Nat said as YN started to walk off.  "What are you saying?"

"Bucky was the one who gave Steve the talk about the birds and the bees," YN explained in a whisper as she glanced around to make sure no one was listening in.  "There's a really good reason why I don't wear anything but garters anymore."

Without waiting for a response, YN turned around and headed toward the group of men.  She knew she'd piqued Nat's interest and she just hoped the other woman would be curious enough to make a move later tonight.

By the time the two women made their way back to the group, Thor had joined them.  The tall blond god had a self-satisfied look on his face, so YN assumed he'd been able to set up his surprise with no complications.  He winked at her which only focused her attention on his two different colored eyes – she wasn't sure she would ever get used to seeing him with one blue and one brown eye.

Bucky wrapped an arm around her waist and drew her closer to him.  As he leaned over to give her a kiss, she could smell the strong scent of alcohol on his breath.  Thor must have indeed sneaked a flask of his Asgardian liquor into the reception, and from the slightly glazed look in Steve and Bucky's eyes, they'd already taken a few shots while she and Nat had been at the bar.

Talk within the group quickly turned to old battle stories and, as always, each person had a different recollection of how certain events played.  The version that was told depended on which of the Avengers was telling the story, but there were always groans of frustration from at least two or three people that refused to accept that they had been the one who'd needed rescuing, or had been the one that had almost botched the entire mission.

Sam was in the middle of telling one such story, and of course, he went out of his way to paint Bucky in the worst light.  Everyone knew that it was all in jest, but the way Sam and Bucky taunted and teased one another was a highlight of any gathering, so most everyone did their best to encourage the friendly bickering.

"That is not the way that happened, Wilson," Bucky argued as his words began to slur.

"You're going to deny that it was you that. . ." Sam began.

"Yes, I'm going to deny it," Bucky interrupted.  "It was your stupid toy that came swooping in, and. . ."

"Red Wing is not a toy," Sam interjected before Bucky could finish.

Bucky and Sam continued to argue back and forth, but a movement out of the corner of YN's eye caught her attention.  Looking over her shoulder, she saw Tony's little protégé, Peter, frantically waving his arms in their direction.

"As much as I hate to break up the party," YN said, effectively shutting both men up at the same time.  "It looks like the wedding party is being summoned."

Most of the group began filing out of the reception hall leaving YN and Bucky behind.  A small string quartet had set up in the back corner, so once they were alone again, Bucky pulled her into his arms and began to dance.

"No one else is dancing," she told him as she wrapped her arms around their neck.

"They don't have the most beautiful woman in the world as their date."

"Oh, I see," she said with a smirk.  "This is just a ploy to get me in your arms so you can seduce me."

"Absolutely," he admitted with a smile.  "Is it working?"

His smile still managed to charm her, and the way his fingers lazily skimmed over her lower back through the thin swath of silk she wore had desire starting to awaken within her.  The sexy smiles and soft touches always evoked a reaction within her, but just his presence alone was enough to have her senses reeling.  Since that first night, he'd held her heart in the palm of his hand and all he had to do was exist to make her want him.

"I bought some new lingerie just for tonight," she whispered in his ear.  "If you're a bad boy, I might let you see it."

"I thought only good boys got treats at the end of the night?"

She buried her fingers in the long, dark strands of hair that she'd insisted he wear loose and flowing as she brought her lips back to his ear.  She started to whisper something risqué and she could feel the heat from his blush radiating off of him.

He leaned back to look into her eyes.  There was a glint of something dangerous in those beautiful depths, but instead of scaring him, it only heightened his own desire for her.  The soft candlelight made it hard to see for most people, but his vision was better than most due to the serum so he was able to make out the patterns of color he'd first discovered on a train almost eighty years ago.  Whenever he needed to ground himself, he always sought solace in her eyes.  He knew that no matter what happened he would always find love and understanding reflected back at him, and sometimes that love was tinged with desire like it was tonight.  He might have been at another man's wedding, but he knew that he was the luckiest man in the room.

Bucky was about to whisper something just as naughty into her ear, but the string quartet finished playing and the band leader stepped up to the mic to announce the wedding party.  He settled for a quick kiss before spinning her around so that her back was flush against his chest as his arms looped lazily around her waist.

As each groomsman and bridesmaid were introduced and made their grand entrance into the packed hall, the crowd around them began to applaud.  Pepper has chosen some of the female Avengers like Nat, Wanda, and Maria to be bridesmaids, but she'd also asked a few of her closest friends as well.  YN and Bucky had been making fun of the poor girls' expressions all night as they tried to contain their excitement at being paired up with some of the most handsome men in the universe.  Thankfully, Pepper had also noticed the tension between Steve and Nat and had conveniently arranged the wedding party so those two would be together all night.

When Tony and Pepper were finally announced, YN didn't feel anything.  She'd been scared that there would be some lingering feelings still left for the man that had occupied her every waking thought – and some of her non-waking thoughts – for more than a decade, but her heart was too full of love for Bucky to allow even a smidgen of doubt to surface.  She leaned back into Bucky's arms and tilted her head so that she could place a kiss on his bearded cheek.

"I love you," she told him as his eyes shifted to meet hers.

"I love you, too."

She started to say something, but something caught her attention.  "Did you hear that?"

He shook his head.  "I didn't hear a thing, doll."

"Hmph.  I could've sworn I heard. . ." She paused as she heard the unidentifiable sound again.  "There it was again.  Are you sure you didn't hear that?"

Bucky started to deny hearing anything, but she caught the look in his eye.  Twisting around, she grabbed his chin in her hand and forced him to look at her.  "What did you and Thor do?"

"Nothing," he said, hoping she would let the subject drop.

"You're lying to me, James Buchanan Barnes."

"It was all Thor's idea."

"But you helped."

He let out a sigh and dropped his head slightly so that he was peering at her through his lashes.  He knew she couldn't stay mad at him for too long once he pulled out the puppy dog eyes.

"I may have put him in touch with someone who could help him," he hedged.

She heard the sound again and she placed a finger over Bucky's mouth to keep him quiet.  Tilting her head, she closed her eyes and tried to identify where she'd heard the sound before.  When realization dawned, her eyes shot open and she looked at Bucky disbelievingly.

"Please tell me that's not what I think it is."

"It's an old Norse wedding tradition," Bucky answered with a shrug.

Before she could ask him what he meant, Thor had grabbed the mic from the band leader and with a momentary screech of feedback, he effectively drew all the attention to himself.

"Good evening ladies and gentlemen. I am Thor, rightful king of Asgard, son of Odin."

Tony rushed over to where Thor stood and laid a hand on his shoulder.  "Hey, buddy, why don't we stick to the script here and. . ."

"I thought you liked surprises, Stark," Thor said with a wink before waving toward someone at the glass doors leading out the garden.

Everyone's attention turned to the door and one collective gasp could be heard throughout the room as Peter began leading a goat into the reception hall.

"It's an old tradition on Asgard that when a man and woman are wed, a goat is sacrificed to the god's of fertility," Thor explained as he took the goat's leash from Peter with a beaming smile.

"We are not sacrificing a goat at our wedding, Tony," Pepper said as her eyes continued to grow larger and larger.  

The goat decided to let out a loud bleat, startling most of the wedding guests, but YN saw T'Challa standing off in the corner with his new bride, Nakia.  The royal couple's faces were contorted with the effort not to start laughing and YN immediately knew how Bucky had been involved in this whole fiasco.

Thor seemed undaunted as he continued to smile.  "I said it was an old tradition.  In the past few hundred years we've chosen not to actually sacrifice the animal but instead to gift it to the newlywed couple as a sacred reminder of their love."  Thor held out the leash toward Tony and waited for the billionaire to accept his gift.

YN could feel Bucky desperately trying not laugh behind her and in that moment all her suspicions were confirmed.  "Bucky Barnes, I can't believe you did this."

Since the poor goat had been brought into the hall, it had desperately been searching for something or someone familiar.  Somehow it had caught on to Bucky's scent and recognized it because just as Tony was about to take the leash, the goat bolted across the room toward her and Bucky.

YN barely had time to move out of the way before the goat launched itself off of the ground.  Bucky had been prepared and had caught the animal in his arms while it rubbed it's head against his shoulder and bleated loudly in excitement.  She tried to melt into the wall behind her as Bucky started walking back toward Tony and Pepper.

"You," Tony growled as Bucky got closer.

"Don't get angry with Barnes," Thor said with a laugh.  "This was all my idea, he was just kind enough to provide me with a goat."

"I knew letting the two of you become friends was a bad idea," Tony muttered as Bucky put down the goat and handed him the leash again.  Tony grabbed the leash and glared at Bucky.  "Where in the hell did you even get a goat, Barnes?"

Unable to contain his laughter any longer, T'Challa snorted causing Nakia to burst out laughing as well.  Suddenly, everyone's attention was focused on the regal couple who were all but doubled over in mirth at the scene playing out before them.

"Seriously?" Tony asked as he threw his arms in the air.  Turning to Pepper, he took one of her hands in his and let out a sigh.  "I'm so sorry my friends are assholes."

She cupped his face with her free hand and shook her head.  "No more than you are, honey."

"God, I love you," Tony said as he leaned in and gave Pepper a kiss.  The crowd around them began to applaud as the tension in the room started to fade.  Conversation began to pick up again and laughter could be heard ringing out throughout the hall as the guests finally felt free to express their true feelings concerning Thor's unorthodox wedding gift.

Tony turned back to Bucky and shoved the goat's leash into his hand.  "Get YN to portal this thing back to the compound."

"You're keeping him?" Bucky asked with a shocked look on his face.

Tony waved his hand in the direction of the goat.  "He can eat the grass out on the south lawn."  

Bucky started to lead the goat back out of the door, but Tony called out to stop him.

"Does he have a name?"

A huge smile spread across Bucky's face.  "Actually he does.  I call him Steve."

"Of course you do," Tony said with a shake of his head.

YN met Bucky at the side door leading out into the garden.  "You gave him your favorite goat?"

"Why do you think he's my favorite?"

"You named him Steve," YN said with a knowing look.  "Either he's your favorite or the one you hate the most.  I'm going with favorite since he seems so fond of you."

Bucky leaned down and scratched the goat behind the ears.  "Yeah, he's my favorite.  I'm kinda glad Stark is going to keep him."

YN bumped her hip into Bucky's as a devious smile spread across her lips.  "Maybe we should get him a girlfriend.  We can name her Natasha."

"Not if we want to live."

YN let out a laugh as they continued past the garden toward the lake.  Once they were far enough away from everyone, she pulled the sling ring from the small clutch hanging off her wrist.  Strange had given it to her once she and Bucky had returned from 1942 after making her promise to be available if he ever needed her help.  

She'd accepted the offer without hesitation, but so far, he hadn't sent for her.  She knew it was only a matter of time before he'd need her help, so she'd started practicing the Mystic Arts again, just in case.

Within a few seconds, she conjured the portal back to the compound and she and Bucky walked through.  Tony must have had FRIDAY contact one of the agents on duty because as soon as they'd crossed through the portal, there was someone there waiting to take the goat from them.

YN turned to Bucky and started to wrap her arms around him, but stopped at the last second.  With a frown, she began to brush stray goat hairs off of his coat.

"Here," he said as he slipped the suit jacket off and draped it over his arm.  "Better?"

"Much," she answered as she pulled him close and began to kiss him.

"Do we have to go back to the reception?" he asked in between kisses.

"Not if you don't want to," she replied with a sultry smile.  "I actually have a surprise for you, but I was going to wait until after we'd gotten home tonight.  If you want, I can show you now."

He pulled away and looked down at her in the waning moonlight.  "I want."

She gave him a wink as she untangled herself from his arms and moved a few feet away.  She could see the confusion in his eyes as she began to create a new portal.

Bucky waited for the portal to appear before he said anything else.  Once it was up, he peered through to the other side.  "It's daylight wherever you're taking me, so it's got to be somewhere on the other side of the world."

"Any guesses?"

He looked at the small bungalow-type room on the other side and cocked his head to the side as he began to listen.  "I hear the subtle lapping of water, so I'm going to guess it's an island somewhere in the East."

"It's the Maldives," she told him as she took his hand and led him through the portal into the bungalow she'd rented for the next two weeks.  "I went ahead and brought all of our luggage over before the wedding, so we're all set."

"Why didn't you tell me about this?" he asked as he pulled her into his arms.

"I wanted to surprise you," she said as she leaned in and kissed him.  "We haven't had a moment alone since. . .well since 1942 and in my opinion, this vacation is long overdue."

"You are the best thing that ever happened to me, doll"

"I feel the same way," she said as the loving smile on her face began to morph into a seductive grin.  "Now help me get out of these stockings."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _Thank you for reading the Epilogue! I hope you’ve enjoyed the journey we’ve been on for the past six months!  I have loved writing every single word in this story with all the crazy twists, turns, and cliffhangers! There was so much angst and drama involved with the telling of this story, I thought we all deserved some fluffy fun. Did you like Thor’s wedding gift to Tony and Pepper? How do you feel about Steve and Nat? I’m sad to say one final goodbye to this story, but alas - all good things must come to an end! I look forward to your comments!_

**Author's Note:**

> _Thank you for reading Part 1 of this story!  I hope you enjoyed it!  Well, we've met our Reader, but it seems as though she's in love with Tony, but he's pretty happy with Pepper. . .where on Earth do you think she's going to meet a smart, charming, and devilishly handsome man?!?  Right now she's in Prague with Nat, he's in Wakanda with Steve and the rest of Team Cap, and Tony's back in New York with Pepper.  What a mess!.  How do you think they're all going to end up in the same place?  I look forward to your comments!_


End file.
